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WHAT IS TRUTH 



BY 

CHRISTIAN D. LARSON 

Author oi 

" The Ideal Made Real," *• The Hidden Secret," •* On 

the Heights," " The Pathway of Roee^" *' The 

Great Within," "How to Stay Young,*' 

*• Mastery of Pate," "How the 

Mind Works," "Your 

Forces and How to 

Use them," 

Etc. 






J J 4, .. . • 






1912 

THE NEW LITERATURE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

L06 ANGSLBS, CALIFORNIA 









£ 



Cspyright If 12 

By 

CfllUSTIAN D. LARSON 






• 



• • * • •• • ••• • • *, 

• ••• ••••• •««>•• 



CONTENTS 



CaiAPTER PAGP. 

I. The Meaning of Truth 9 

II. How to Know the Truth 23 

III. How to Seek the Truth 35 

IV. Where to Find the Truth 50 

V. Where We Get Our Ideas 63 

VI. The Two Sides of Truth 74 

VII. Striking Illustrations of Half Truths 89 

VIII. The Subconscious Factor 99 

IX. The Real and the Unreal Ill 

X. In Reality Everything is Good 122 

XI. Causing the Best to Happen 129 

XII. The Truth About Right and Wrong. 137 

XIII. the Truth About Freedom 148 

XIV. The Royal Path to Freedom 157 

XV. The Truth Beyond Truth 164 

XVI. Discernment of Absolute Truth 176 



239428 



i • 






FOREWORD. 

To formulate a complete and final definition for 
truth is not possible, the reason being that the truth 
in itself, or in any of its expressions, cannpt be 
circumscribed by the human mind. The truth is 
too large to be described by any definition, however 
basic or comprehensive it may be. The best we can 
do, therefore, is to define our highest conceptions of 
truth. And moreover, we shall find this to be suffi- 
cient. 

To define and understand our highest conception 
of truth is to know, in the present, as much of the 
truth as we shall find necessary to gain that freedom 
that invariably comes with the truth. And as we 
continue to seek higher and higher conceptions of 
truth, as we advance in life, we shall accordingly 
find that greater measure of freedom which must 
necessarily accompany the more advanced stages of 
human existence. 

The purpose, therefore, of this book is not to 
present a clear-cut definition of truth, nor to give 
an answer to the question. What is truth? that 
would stand the test of all thought and experience. 
No, indeed, for such a course would defeat the aim 

5 



* * • • •• 
•• : : •: ••: ••• •• 



6 •••'• • •' •' ••'•• 'WliA^'I& TRUTH 

we all have in view — ^the finding of more and more 
truth, and would make the search of truth far more 
difficult. The reason for this will be evident as we 
peruse the following pages. 

Our purpose in this work is rather to present a 
plan or outline by which any individual may guide 
his mind in the attainment of higher and higher 
conceptions of truth in all its phases, and thereby 
understand the truth for himself at every stage of 
advancement which he may reach in his own sphere 
of life, thought and action. And this is the only 
rational course to pursue, for each individual must 
understand the truth for himself if he is to know 
that truth that brings freedom; but in order that 
he may imderstand the truth for himself he must 
seek and find the truth for himself. The only truth 
that is of any value to us is that truth that we have 
gained through our own individual efforts to 
actually know truth and inwardly realize the pres- 
ence and power of truth. 

This being true, all wide-awake and progressive 
minds will agree that the aim of this book, which is 
to present practical and effective methods through 
which anyone may find more and more truth, in- 
stead of trying to give a final and complete system 
of thought supposed to contain all the truth, which 
is impossible — ^all such minds will agree that this 
aim is the only aim, in this connection, that can 



WHAT IS TRUTH 7 

possibly be rational in its process and practical in 
its application. And it is for such minds that this 
book is written. We feel, therefore, that every 
page will be fully appreciated, and that every state- 
ment will be thoroughly understood. 



WHAT IS TRUTH 
CHAPTER I. 

THE MEANING OF TRUTH. 

No aim can be higher than that of seeking truth, 
and no reward can be greater than that of finding 
the truth. In fact, it is now considered by every- 
body that the greatest virtue of all virtues is to have 
an intense and ceaseless desire for truth. And the 
greatest good of all that is good is to realize a 
greater and greater measure of real truth. 

The necessities of life are many, but there is noth- 
ing that man needs so much as more truth. To 
possess the truth is to possess everything that we 
can use now, and also to possess the key to every- 
thing that we may require for the future. The 
great objects of every normal person are invariably 
emancipation and attainment. To be set free from 
the imperfect and the lesser and to attain the perfect 
and the greater — ^this is what everybody is con- 
sciously or imconsciously working for; and truth 
can accomplish this, but truth alone. 'To know the 
truth is to secure complete emancipation; and to 

9 



10 WHAT IS TRUTH 

know the truth is to ascend into higher and higher 
attainments* f^ 

The awakened minds of every age have realized 
that the knowing of truth was the one great secrrt 
that could unravel all other secrets ; and they have 
given their lives trying to reveal to mankind what 
truth really might be. Nevertheless, the race does 
not know, and the universal question still continues 
to be, What is truth? To answer this question, 
however, is not difficult, but it is difficult for most 
minds to comprehend the answer. The human mind 
too often believes its own conception of a truth to 
be the truth itself, and here is where the difficulty 
^lies. This is the one great mistake of every age. 
JTruth is one thing, but man's conception of truth is 
quite another thing. ' Truth is eternal, unchange- 
able and complete, while man's conception of truth 
is temporal, mutable, and incomplete. To absolute 
truth nothing can be added, nothing taken away, 
but man's conception of truth is frequently wrong, 
even when it may appear to be absolutely right. 

The truth is infinite and immeasurable. No one, 
therefore, can know the whole truth. To claim that 
you have found the absolute truth, or that you have 
discovered the perfect path to absolute truth is, in 
consequence, to delude yourself. The truth is so 
large that no one can ever find it all. We may 
devote an eternity to the finding of more and more 
truth, and yet, what we have found is insignificant 



WHAT IS TRUTH 11 

compared to the immensity of the whole truth itself. 
The truth is everywhere, therefore there is no one 
perfect path to the truth. Every mind is in the 
f ruth, literally filled and surrounded by the truth, 
but no mind can contain the whole truth. It is 
possible to discern truth and know truth, but it is 
not possible to actually comprehend the truth. It 
is possible to understand the mental conception of 
truth, but it is not possible to tmderstand truth 
itself. 

The truth may be defined as an eternal state of 
perfect being; therefore, to know truth is to know 
that real being is perfect, and also that the perfect 
state of real being is eternal. To obtain a larger 
and a larger mental conception of eternal perfection 
of real being, or fundamental reality, is to grow in 
the truth. To grow in the truth is to find more 
truth, and to pass into the larger, the better, and the 
superior. 

To accept a mental conception of truth as the 
truth itself is to bring all growth to a standstill, but 
this is what mankind in general has been doing and 
is doing. And because of this the majority remain 
in mental darkness, bondage and inferiority. An 
age that worships some one mind^s conception of 
truth invariably becomes materialistic, no matter 
how lofty that mind was that originally formed the 
conception of truth that is worshiped. A material- 
istic mind is a mind that lives in the effects of 



1 



12 WHAT IS TRUTH 

previous efforts and that does nothing to rise above 
such conditions as heredity has handed down. 

Growth, however, comes from the breaking of 
bounds, f rcrni the leaving of the lesser and perpetu- 
ally pressing on toward the greater. The material- 
istic mind is like the stagnant pool ; it is inactive or 
practically dead, no matter how active or beautiful 
its surroundings may be. At the present time we 
find materialistic minds everywhere surrounded by 
the highest culture and the most beautiful in art, 
and on account of those surroundings we fail to 
discern the uselessness, and in many instances the 
detriment, of the materialism thus hidden from 
view. We may believe the stagnant pool to be a 
pond of living water, because it is found in a garden 
of roses. In like manner we may believe that minds 
found in the midst of art, learning and culture must 
surely be living, growing, aspiring minds ; but when 
we draw very near in either case we are disil- 
lusioned. In this age the most detrimental form of 
materialism is practically hidden within circles of 
enchanting music, fascinating rituals, elegant rhet- 
oric and royal garments. Accordingly, materialism 
itself is not discerned by the many, and they follow 
blindly, continuing in sickness, sin, and death. 

Truth alone can give emancipation, but we cannot 
find the truth so long as we humbly worship what 
some one has said about the truth. In this age 
many efforts have been made to formulate the 



WHAT IS TRUTH 13 k 

truth in some definite system, but how can we place 
that scHnething into system that is infinitdy larger 
than all systems ? To follow a system of thought is 
to worship some mind's conception of truth and to 
ignore the real truth itself. A system, however, 
may be employed if it is employed soldy as the 
means to higher conceptions, but as soon as we look 
upcm a system as authority, our eyes will not be able 
to see the truth any more. 

Systems of thought, as well as systems of action, 
are necessary as a means to higher ends, but the 
higher ends will not be reached unless we constantly 
look through the system and keep the eye single 
upon the infinite, unchangeable and immeasurable 
truth. When using systems in this manner, how- 
ever, we must remember that it is not possible to 
know absolutely any part of the truth upon which 
our mental eye may be directed. It is not possiWe, 
even for a mind that is ever becoming larger and 
larger, to comprehend the limitless at any time. All 
that we can do now is to form the largest and 
highest conception of truth that our present mental 
capacity can permit, and then proceed to enlarge 
that conception perpetually. 

True wisdom comes through mental ascension 
into the unbounded truth, and not through a studied 
belief of what we now accept as the truth. That 
knowledge that has power is gained through the 
constant enlargement of mentality ; that is, through 






14 WHAT IS TRUTH 

the expansion of consciousness as the mind grows 
in the truth, and not from the accumulation of rela- 
tive facts. Emancipation comes through ascension, 
and in no other way; that is, the ascension of the 
mind into a larger, a higher and a finer under- 
standing of the truth. The mind that is perpetually 
passing into the greater is constantly being eman- 
cipated from the lesser. And the mind that is for- 
ever growing better is daily being set free from the 
ills of error and imperfection. 

In this connection it is important to realize that 
the only cause of bondage is foimd in a settled or 
inactive condition of mind. There are many minds 
that think they have secured freedom through the 
acceptance of a certain system of thought, but the 
freedom they have received did not come from the 
system of thought itself. Freedom never comes 
from the acceptance of systems, but from the mind's 
ascension into the new and the larger. If a certain 
system leads you away from the imperfection of 
your present life you will be emancipated from that 
imperfection, but if you give the system the credit, 
you will worship the system. You will dwell in the 
mental conceptions upon which that system is based 
and your mind will not move any further toward 
the realization of larger truth. 

In this very place millions have brought their 
lives to a standstill; they having accepted various 
new systems as the whole truth discovered at last. 



WHAT IS TRUTH 15 

and they have settled down in that belief. When 
they first accepted the new system of thought 
their minds naturally gained a higher place, and 
they were set free to that extent; but when they 
b^;an to worship the system as the great emanci- 
pator it ceased to be a means to higher things, and 
became a prison which they dared not leave lest 
they fall back into their former condition. A new 
system of thought if worshiped as the truth will 
prevent you from ascending further into truth, an< 
will, therefore, in due course of time make youi 
mind just as materialistic and as limited as it wa^ 
in the past. 

The fact that you have health, peace and content- 
ment does not prove that you have found absolute 
freedom, or that you have realized absolute truth. 
There are thousands who have health, peace and 
freedom who do not follow any system of thought 
at all, and who do not claim to have fotmd a single 
absolute fact. For here we should remember that 
whenever we accept a new system of thought our 
minds are changed in a measure, and a change of 
mind always tends to eliminate adverse conditions 
of the system, both physical and mental. 

Our great purpose, however, is not simj^y to 
realize peace, health and attainment, but also to 
develop our own individuality. And if we continue 
our individual development, health, peace and 
attainment, and all other blessings will follow. 



16 WHAT IS TRUTH 

This being true, we must not permit anything that 
will in any way hinder our fullest individual expres- 
sion. But the fact is that there is nothing that hin- 
ders individual expression and the development of 
individuality more than the acceptance of a fixed 
system of thought as the absolute truth itself. No 
matter how well it may be with you in your present 
condition, physically, mentally or financially, if your 
belief makes you dependent upon any person, insti- 
tution or outside authority, your individuality is 
being kept down. And instead of moving forward, 
as you may think, you are actually on the path to 
retrogression. 

The experience of all ages proves this fact, and 
what has crippled individuality, or caused man to 
fdeteriorate in the past, can do so again. It is the 
jevidence of history that every fixed system of 
|thought has made mental and spiritual dwarfs of 
"its most faithful followers. We all understand the 
reason why. No individual mind can know the 
truth through the understanding of some other 
mind; therefore each mind must not only be per- 
mitted, but encouraged, to develop its own indi- 
/* vidual capacity for knowing the truth, and nothing 
J must stand in the way of the perpetual ascension 
of the soul into new conceptions of truth every day. 
The understanding of truth is promoted through 
\j individual research in all domains of life, and in the 
^ use of all the systems of thought available as means 



r 



WHAT IS TRUTH 17 

^v an end in the furthering of all research. It is 
tueref ore evident that individuality or the power of 
each mind to stand upon its own feet is indispensa- 
ble in the search of truth. Fixed lines of action 
may be necessary in the systematic search for truth, 
but these lines should not be limited in number, nor 
confined to certain spheres of action. 

Thousands of minds, otherwise intelligent, keep 
themselves in mental darkness because they refuse 
to seek truth outside of the usual lines. They forget 
that the lines now looked upon as usual and regular 
were once upon a time very unusual, and even con- 
sidered dangerous. The fact is, however, that any 
line of research will lead to truth, and nothing is 
dangerous that will bring us more truth. We may 
therefore lay aside all fears, open wide all doors to 
all realms, and place our minds absolutely out in 
the open. 

In the search of truth it is of the highest impor- 
tance to be able to discriminate between truth itself 
and our mere mental conception of truth, and also 
between those conceptions that are true and those 
that are not. When you are dealing with a mental 
conception you are dealing with something that 
your mind contains, bujt^when you are dealingjwith 
trudL itseli-you are dealing with jsomething: that 
contains your mind. A mental conception of truth 
Ts Innited — it is something that mind can measure, 
but the truth itself is not limited, and therefore can- 



18 WHAT IS TRUTH 

not be measured. False conceptions of truth, how- 
ever, will not form themselves in your mind when 
you view the truth as infinite, and when the mind 
invariably ascends or tries to rise higher in the scale 
of understanding while attempting to realize more 
truth; in brief, a conception of truth is true as far 
as it goes if the mind expanded while that concep- 
tion was formed. This is a simple rule and will be 
foimd to contain the greatest secret of all in the 
realization of more and more truth. 

The fact is, that the aspiring or expanding atti- 
tude of the mind is the only attitude through which 
more truth can be gained, for no mental conception 
of truth is true unless it is superior to the concep- 
tion that was formed before. And here it must be 
remembered that to know the truth is to know more 
truth. The very act of the mind in knowing the 
truth involves the act of knowing more truth at 
that particular time. Whenever the mind is trying 
to know the truth it must try to know more truth in 
order to know truth at all. We are not moving 
forward unless we are moving forward. For the 
same reason we are not knowing truth unless we 
are knowing more truth, because the truth is limit- 
less, and every act of the mind that is attracted 
toward the knowing of truth must of necessity be 
attracted toward the knowing of all the truth. This 
means that every effort to know the truth must be 
a forward movement in the mind. 



WHAT IS TRUTH 19 

What was truth to you in the past is not truth to 
you now because that alone is truth to you now that 
you discern through your own present mental 
capacity, which is necessarily larger than your 
capacity was in the past. What we call truth is our 
present view of infinite truth, therefore if our pres- 
ent view is not superior to the past view we are still 
living in the past view ; and if we are still living in 
the past view we are worshiping a system of out- 
grown beliefs; therefore do not see the truth at all. 

The mental conceptions we form while in a stag- 
nant state are not conceptions of truth*; they are 
simply varying beliefs concerning the size and the 
structure of our prison walls; that is, the walls of 
the system in which we have incased ourselves. 
When you are confined in a system you are standing 
still, you see the bounds and the limitations of the 
system, but you do not see the boundlessness of the 
truth itself. And since we cannot form conceptions 
of truth unless we have our eyes directed upon 
infinite truth, the fact that your present conception 
is not superior to its predecessor proves that you 
are not viewing the truth. Accordingly, that con- 
ception cannot be true. The truth invariably lies 
in the line of an ascending scale of thought or 
mental action, while the untruth is formed when 
the mind is at a standstill, or is in the line of retro- 
gression. 



20 WHAT IS TRUTH 

The understanding of truth is never fixed. A 
fixed understanding is no understanding, because 
to understand is to go deeper and deeper into the 
ttfifathomable states of the absolute; in brief, it 
imrolves an action of the mind. And any action of 
the mind that aims to understand must necessarily 
move toward the greater truth. We therefore sec 
how impossible it is for any form of understanding 
to be fixed and stable. Comprehension does not 
comprehend unless it perpetually enlarges itself, 
because when the mind ceases to expand it ceases 
to act, and when it ceases to act no comprehensicm 
can take place. To comprehend is to go around, 
but if we are not going there necessarily will be no 
comprehension. 

We therefore realize how necessary it is that 
every effort to know truth must be an effort to com- 
prehend greater truth. The mind either goes out 
into the larger or remains at a standstill, though 
frequently when it remains at a standstill it is 
actually being contracted into a smaller mental 
sphere. When the mind remains at a standstill, or 
deteriorates, it does not act upon anything that is 
larger or superior to its past belief; and conse- 
quently the act of comprehension does not take 
place. 

A mind that is belittling itself is not on the way 
to the realization of greater wisdom. The mind can 
know only through the act of ascension or expan- 



WHAT IS TRUTH ^ 21 

sion; that is, the rising in the scale of thought, 
feeling and consciousness. When the mind ceases 
to ascend it ceases to know, because the act of 
knowing is a forward movement of those mental 
processes that are involved in thinking, reasoning 
and similar acts of the mind. Therefore, when the 
mind ceases to ascend it begins to dwell in mental 
darkness, and from mental darkness come all the 
ills of life. To find the truth and to know the 
truth it is necessary to view the truth as infinite and 
immeasurable, and to ascend perpetually mto a 
larger and a larger consciousness of that infinite 
view of truth. 

When you think of things as entities, and try to 
know the truth concerning them, it is always neces- 
sary to turn the attention upon the limitless truth 
that is back of appearances. We cannot gain the 
truth about anything unless the mind expands into 
the consciousness of the all that is contained in 
everything. And we cannot ascend in this way 
unless we direct our research into the vast realms 
that are beyond all appearances. There will always 
be a beyond, but the beyond of today should be the 
tangible and demonstrated realities of the days suc- 
ceeding. What is hidden today should be proven 
fact tomorrow. This is possible when we search 
for the truth, not in the world of appearances, but 
in the wider realms just beyond present appear- 
ances. 



22 WHAT IS TRUTH 

But our object in seeking the truth is not simply 
to possess the truth — it is also to find greater means 
for growth, progress and ascension. Emancipation 
and attainment are the two great aims in real life, 
and both are the results of knowing the truth. To 
know the truth is to ascend perpetually into the 
infinite domains of truth, thus leaving behind the 
lesser and forever entering into the greater. In 
this way we pass out of and rise above cver)rthing 
that has served its purpose and enter constantly into 
the marvels and splendors still in store. 



CHAPTER 11. 

HOW TO KNOW THE TRUTH. 

The discovery of the subconscious mind and 'its 
extraordinary powers over the outer mind and the 
body is turning new light on many subjects. And 
we can safely predict that the understanding of 
the subconscious will in the near future practically 
revolutionize all thought and all methods of mental, 
moral and spiritual training. The fact that you can 
impress anything upon the subconscious and that 
all such impressions will react as corresponding 
expressions, is creating the most profound attention 
among all progressive thinkers, not only because it 
opens to the mind an immense field of most fasci- 
nating study, but also because it explains hundreds 
of phenomena that have hitherto baffled all attempts 
at solution. 

Amcmg the many mysteries that are explained by 
subconscious study, few are of greater interest than 
that of the origin of ideas or what might be termed 
beliefs and convictions. Many a person asks him- 
self daily why he believes what he does, and why he 
is convinced that certain things are true when he 
has no evidence. If our convictions always proved 

23 



24 WHAT IS TRUTH 

themselves to be true this matter might not attract 
much attention, but the fact that so many convic- 
tions sooner or later prove themselves to be untrue^ 
or mere illusions makes the subject one of more than^ 
passing importance. What we believed yesterday 
we frequently discard today, and what we believe 
today we are quite liable to discard tomorrow, pos- 
sibly with a few exceptions. Nevertheless, while 
the beliefs of today remain, we are so thoroughly 
convinced that they are true that practically nothing 
can change our minds. In fact, our present beliefs 
sometimes have such a powerful hold upon our 
minds that we have absolutely no desire to think 
differently from what we do. And what is more, 
those very beliefs, as a rule, refuse to be examined. 
It is certainly mental bondage with a vengeance 
when a mind dare not examine the credentials of 
its own beliefs, and is so completely tmder the con- 
trol of its own convictions that it is unable to ques- 
tion their genuineness or authority. 

But what we want to know is what places the 
mind in such a condition, and also what might con- 
stitute the path to emancipation. These are great 
questions when we realize the fact that there are 
millions of minds that are more or less in such a 
condition. The subconscious mind, however, 
explains the mystery. Our. convictions, that is, 
those things that we feel to be true, are in most 
instances mental expressions from the subconscious. 



WHAT IS TRUTH 25 

When these expressions are very strong they in- 
variably color all views, desires, motives, feelings 
or intentions of the outer mind. Sometimes these 
convictions, or subconscious expressions, are so 
strong that even a liberal university education will 
have to obey and color its ideas accordingly. We 
frequently ask, "How can that well educated man 
believe as he does ?** The fact is that he is com- 
pelled by his own subconscious convictions to 
believe as he does. Those convictions are so strong 
that they bend, twist and color his education so that 
the education itself is made a servant of mere belief, 
and is not infrequently compelled to use its power 
to prove the genuineness of that belief. 

But in the face of these facts, how arcjwe to 
know that truth is truth? How are we to distin- 
guish between a real principle and an opinion 
which is simply the reaction of some idea or belief 
that was previously impressed upon our minds? 
How are we to determine when a law is a law and 
when it is simply the tendency of a strong expres- 
sion from the subconscious ? To know these things 
is highly important, because the truth is the cause 
of all that is good, while the tmtruth is the cause of 
all that is not good. 

To distinguish truth from error we have usually 
depended upon logic, or upon scientific evidence, 
but a study of the subconscious proves that logic is 
not always safe, and also that scientific evidence 



26 WHAT IS TRUTH 

may be so colored and modified as to prove the 
very opposite as to what happens to be fact. An 
expression from the subconscious, if very strong, 
can so modify the logical process that reason is 
literally compelled to act along certain lines only, 
and wholly ignore certain other lines which if con- 
sidered would change the conclusion decidedly. We 
have any amount of this sort of reasoning going on 
all about us, and it is responsible for a g^eat many 
false views as well as half truths. 

JjL addition to the twisting process, which is con- 
stantly applied to logic or reason by prejudice, 
strong personal feelings and contradicting subcon- 
scious convictions, there is another process orig^- 
ating wholly in the subconscious, which makes log^c 
still more incompetent to prove that truth is truth. 
The logical process is based upon premises, and the 
conclusion is true only when the premises are true. 
If one or both of the premises are false, the conclu- 
sion will be false, even though the reasoning em- 
ployed be absolutely sound in every respect. 

The process of logical reasoning is similar to the 
working out of a mathematical problem. If one of 
the original figures were wrong, the final answer 
will be wrong, regardless of the fact that the figg- 
ing be entiicly correct all the way through. In 
logic it is therefore necessary to have correct prem- 
ises at the beginning, but how are we to know that 
they are correct? A strong, preconceived subcon- 



WHAT IS TRUTH 27 

scious conviction may color or modify any premises 
which we may formulate, and make it appear true 
when it is false, or vice versa. What is more, a 
strong subconscious conviction may influence the 
mind to form all of its premises so as to harmonize 
with that conviction, thus forcing the logical 
process to prove that the subconscious conviction 
is true, even though it may be the most impossible 
illusion. A great deal of this is done ; in fact, there 
are few minds that are absolutely free from it. 

Again, a great many impressions concerning the 
nature of life in general, and this or that in particu- 
lar, may establish themselves so firmly in the sub- 
conscious that they are accepted as absolute facts; 
and these may be employed as fundamentals in the 
formulating of principles, laws, premises, and so on. 
Upon these fundamentals we may construct an 
immense system of thought which may seem to be 
plausible, reasonable, and logical, and we may gain 
thousands of followers even though there may not 
be a single truth at the bottom of the system. 

In tliis connection we must remember that any 
idea which seems plausible may impress itself upon 
the subconscious as a fact. And since we natu- 
rally accept what comes from the subconscious, 
provided the subconscious expression be very 
strong, we will believe this plausible idea to be a 
fact even though it may be nothing more than a 
mere illusion. It is the nature of the human mind 



28 WHAT IS TRUtH 

to feel that whatever comes from the stAconscious 
is true; that is, every expression from the subcon- 
scious feels as if it were real, and what we feel to 
be true or real we accept as final, usually asking no 
questions. But we must not blame the subconscious 
for such phenomena. The subconscious only re- 
sponds to impressions from without. The conscious 
mind acts, the subconscious reacts, and the two 
actions are always similar. 

Wh«i we accept an idea from another mind, or 
from our own study simply because it seems plausi- 
ble, we will permit that idea to impress itself upon 
the subconscious, provided it is deeply felt. Later 
on that same idea will come back from the subcon- 
scious as a strong conviction ; and we shall not only 
be forced to accept it as true, but in addition it will 
color all our thinking; in fact, it may become so 
strong that we do not care to be free f rcmi its abso- 
lute control. There are many illustrations of this 
very thing, as there are quite a number of people 
who are in such complete bondage to the mental 
control of the beliefs they cherish that they actually 
take pride in being under such absolute control ; in 
brief, they frequently declare, "I am completely in 
the hands of this system of thought and I am glad 
of it.'* 

The cause of this strange state of mind is easily 
explained, however. The absolute slave, be he 
physical or mental, does not wish to be free, because 



WHAT IS TRUTH 29 

if he IS an absolute slave he does not have sufficient 
freedom of thought to distinguish between bondage 
and emancipation; in brief, he cannot appreciate 
freedom. Therefore, it appears to him to be some- 
thing that will deprive him of the privileges he may 
enjoy in his bondage. He would rather endure the 
present state, even if that state happens to be unde- 
sirable, than risk the uncertainty of that of which 
he has not the slightest conception. 

There are a large number of minds in this condi- 
tion ; t hey ar e afraid to change their minds, because 
their bondage is so complete that they have not 
sufficient individuality or freedom of self-assertive- 
ness to stand upon their own feet should they be 
called upon to do so. They may be miserable where 
they are, but they are wholly tmable to express a 
desire for change. They believe what they believe 
because that belief has become a deep-seated sub- 
oxiscious habit and their minds are completely under 
the control of those habits. Their habits of belief 
may have been formed in childhood under the strict 
discipline of "authority for truth**; or they may 
have changed later, accepting a new belief and per- 
mitting this new belief to sink so deeply into the 
subconscious that it colors all thought and prevents 
the mind from thinking anything which does not 
conform to this belief. 

But the question is, if there need be any truth in 
a belief in order that it may gain such full control 



30 , WHAT IS TRUTH 

over the mind. That there may be some truth m 
all belief is possible, though from the nature of the 
case, the larger part of it will be untrue. We realize 
that any system, no matter how untrue, may gain 
complete supremacy in the mind and compel the 
mind to accept it as true. Therefore, the mere fact 
that our belief seems to be true proves nothing, nor 
does the fact that we are satisfied with our present 
belief prove anything in its favor. 

Many a serf is satisfied to be next to nothing, and 
many a mind knows so little that it looks upon its 
ignorance as a virtue. In fact, it was only a few 
years ago that ignorance was considered a virtue 
among a large percentage of people. Those people, 
however, were not to blame; in fact, no one is 
directly to blame. Nevertheless, the fact that all 
these things exist in our very midst but adds impor- 
tance to our subject. 

JThe great question before us is, "How are we to 
know the truth; that is, how are we to know the 
truth when we see it?'* Thus far there is only one 
way through which we may know the truth, and 
that is what is called "the scientific method.'* This 
method has been applied by students of the physical 
universe for half a century or more, and they have 
in that way made modern science a marvel. But 
the same method can be applied in any department 
of thought or research, and must, if we are to dis- 
tinguish the truth from what is not truth. 



WHAT IS TRUTH 31 

_Thc scientific method is based upon the principle 
of permitting truth to demonstrate itself; or in 
other words, acting upon the statement, "By their 
fruits ye shall know them/' When we proceed 
according to this principle we find that truth always 
demonstrates itself when permitted to do so; and 
also, any belief which does not prove itself to be the 
truth, proves itself through the same process to be 
the untruth. 

In this age, one of the reigning desires is to find 
the truth; in consequence, wide-awake minds may 
be seen in large numbers going here and there and 
everywhere in search of the precious jewel. But 
how many of them know what the jewel looks like? 
Are we sure that most of us have not passed it by 
thousands of times, thinking it was something else ? 
It has been said that "All is not gold that glitters/' 
but we can with equal propriety declare, that all is 
not truth that dazzles the mind with the colorings 
of plausibility, though the average truth seeker is 
entirely too prone to accept the plausible as truth 
without further evidence. The ideas thus accepted 
invariably become subconscious convictions of more 
or less power, and we have a repetition of the old 
process until the new belief becomes a habit and 
controls the mind as it was controlled by the habits 
of belief which went before. 

Knowing that subconscious convictions can so 
dominate judgment and reason that the true may 



32 WHAT IS TRUTH 

appear to be false, and vice versa, it is wholly unsafe 
to accept anything as true until we have seen the 
fruits. IWe should therefore demand that every 
idea demonstrate its genuineness before it is made a 
part of the mind. No idea should be permitted to 
impress itself upon the subconscious until it has 
proved itself to be true, because the subconscious 
is like k fertile field. Anything will grow there if 
you simply drop the seed. 

"As a man thinketh in his heart so is he"; and 
the thought of the heart is invariably that thought 
which is rooted in the subconscious. The thoughts, 
ideas, desires and convictions which enter the sub- 
conscious will wholly determine what we are to do, 
think or become. Whatever enters the subconscious 
will express itself in the personality, and whatever 
we accept with implicit faith will enter the sub- 
conscious. Since ever seed that is sown in the 
subconscious will positively bear fruit after its kind, 
and since what we accept as true will enter the 
subconscious, we cannot be too cautious with 
respect to what we think of as the truth ; and should 
therefore require all ideas to prove themselves 
before we receive them. 

But here we may ask what we are to do with all 
those beliefs that the race has for ages looked upon 
as sacred? Will it be necessary to take all these 
beliefs out and demand that they demonstrate them- 
selves through the scientific method to be absolutely 



^ 



WHAT IS TRUTH 33 

true before we reinstate them in our minds? The 
answer is, this is the course we must take. All 
truth is sacred, and nothing is sacred unless it is the 
truths The fact that we think a certain belief to be 
sacred does not make it so, even though it has been 
held sacred for a thousand centuries. We can 
easily get into the habit of thinking the most ordi- 
nary illusion to be a sacred truth, and finally be com- 
pletely controlled by that belief. If a belief is true 
it will produce the fruits of the truth, which means 
all good things for life here and now. And if so, 
it^is sacred. But if it produces no fruits or produces 
results that are undesirable, it must be examined. 
It may simply be a habit of thought that poses as 
sacred truth, and we want to know. Truth is for 
us, and if there is any idea in our minds that has all 
these years deceived us, we want to get rid of it at 
once, no matter how sacred it may have appeared 
in the eyes of ignorance. 

The fact that we have to discard a few of the old 
beliefs when we begin to search for the truth need 
not disturb us in the least. We shall not be left 
empty-handed. The truth is everywhere. There 
are millions of great truths all about us, above us, 
beneath us, within us, and we have the power to 
know them all; therefore, we are perfectly safe in 
changing our minds in a few respects when we find 
that such changes will be conducive to a much 
larger understanding of the truth. To eliminate 



34 WHAT IS TRUTH 

the useless will give place for that which can add 
more richly to the welfare and the beauty of life. 

Concerning the demonstration of truth we must 
remember that we are living in the great eternal 
now, and in consequence can take interest only in 
those ideas that deal with the present. We cannot 
demonstrate anything concerning the future; 
therefore it is a misuse of the mind to try. It is 
also wrong, for the same reason, to fill our minds 
with beliefs which deal solely with future states of 
existence. To tmderstand the life that we are living 
now is the problem, and to live this present life in 
the truest and most beautiful sense possible is the 
purpose. \To fulfill that purpose we must know the 
truth about present existence, and must live the 
present life according to that truth. I And here we 
should remember that to make the present good is 
to make the future better, because what is to happen 
in days to come will be the natural result of what 
we are doing now. 



CHAPTER III. 

HOW TO SEEK THE TRUTH. 

In this age thinkers are becoming numerous, and 
all thinkers are seekers of truth. At any rate they 
try to be, but they are not all successful in this 
respect, the reason being that the principle upon 
which all search of truth must be based is not clearly 
understood. To the majority truth is a something 
that can be received from some other mind; there- 
fore it is sought from those who are supposed to 
know or who claim to know. And this is the real 
reason why there are so few who really understand 
the truth, or who are actually growing in that 
understanding. 

In the strictest sense of the term truth cannot be 
taught. One mind cannot teach the truth to 
another mind. And in the same sense the truth 
cannot be learned. It can only be realized, and 
realization is a process that no two minds enter into 
exactly in the same way. Methods for finding the 
truth may be given by one mind to another, but 
each individual mind must employ such methods as 
his own present conception of truth, life and reality 
can apply. 

35 



36 WHAT IS TRUTH 

We all occupy diflferent positions in life. There- 
fore we all shall have to begin differently in taking 
any step forward. And if this step is taken in our 
own best way it will invariably be a forward step. 
In like manner, since we all have different concep- 
tions of the real we must seek to perfect our own 
conceptions. We cannot enlarge upon something 
in our own mind that never existed in our own 
minds. Therefore we must develop our own view 
of truth in order to obtain a better understanding 
of truth. 

Before you can take a step from a lower position 
to a higher you must have a lower position upon 
which to stand. And that lower position must be 
under your own feet, not under the feet of another. 
To obtain a larger realization of truth each indi- 
vidual mind must begin by unfolding the truth that 
he already perceives through his own present reali- 
zation, no matter how crude or undeveloped that 
realization may be. He must enlarge upon that 
which he himself is fti possession of. He must begin 
his development with his own present state of devel- 
opment, and not try to imitate the understanding, 
the realization or the process of growth in another. 

No progress is possible so long as we try to see 
truth through the eyes of another, or try to imitate 
the understanding that a more advanced mind may 
possess. This very thing, however, nearly all seek- 
ers of truth are trying to do, and in consequence 



WHAT IS TRUTH 37 

they do not succeed in knowing truth. To beHeve 
the truth is one thing. To know the truth is quite 
another. The former is possible to anybody, but 
it is only the latter that makes man free. 

The average beginner in search of truth believes 
that his own conception of truth is wholly wrong. 
At any rate, he is usually told so by those who 
imagine they have discovered the only truth ; but in 
this respect they are quite mistaken. No conception 
of truth is wholly wrong. There is some truth in 
every belief that you may now entertain. There- 
fore begin with that tiny truth and continue to 
unfold it and enlarge upon it until it touches the 
universal on all sides. And when this process of 
growth is entered into you will find the way to 
perpetual growth in the absolute truth itself. 

To develop the truth that may exist in your pres- 
ent conception of life and reality, the first essential is 
to open the mind on all sides. Realize that the truth 
is the soul of everything, and that something good 
can be gained from everything by opening the mind 
to this soul wherever it may be found. 

Whenever a person declares that there is nothing 
in this or that, or that such and such is impossible, 
he places obstacles in the way of his own under- 
standing, and therefore closes the door more or less 
to the truth. There positively is something in 
everything, and to find the truth about everything 
yott must recognize this something in every phase 



38 WHAT IS TRUTH ! 

i 
of existence. This, however, is not possible so long 
as you continue to close your mind to everything 
that does not appeal to your understanding at first 
sight. 

Everything that exists or that appears has some 
reality back of it or within it. Even so-called illu- 
sions are mental clouds that hide some light of 
truth. Therefore, instead of ignoring the mere 
appearance as worthless, the hidden truth that is 
certainly back of those things should be sought 
directly and with persistence. By tracing an illu- 
sion back to its origin you may make a great dis- 
covery. This very thing has been done a number 
of times. In fact, most of the greatest discoveries 
made in the world have been made exactly in this 
manner. 

The man who refuses to investigate what does 
not appeal to him at first sight will never find real 
truth, nor will he become an original thinker. He 
will continue to remain a follower and will blindly 
believe what custom has made safe and respectable. 
To say that there is nothing in this or that is to 
close the mental door to that something that is 
there, thus depriving yourself of a truth that might 
be the very truth you are seeking now. 

All truth is valuable and extremely important, 
but the truth that we actually need now is usually 
the truth that is hidden beneath the common mis- 
conceptions of everyday life. But we usually judge 



WHAT IS TRUTH 39 

according to appearances and conclude that there 
is nothing in these things ; therefore we fail to find 
what we want. Back of every truth there are 
scores of other truths and larger truths. It is there- 
fore evident that when we close the mental door to 
those that are nearest we separate ourselves from 
a imiverse of rare wisdom. 

To declare that this or that is impossible is to 
limit the power of truth, and when we place a 
limitation upon the power of truth we place a limita- 
tion upon our own power to understand truth. The 
mind that lives in the faith that all things are possi- 
ble is the mind that opens itself more and more to 
the truth and that power from within that can make 
all things possible. In consequence such a mind 
develops daily in capacity, ability, understanding 
and power. 

In this connection the proper course is to believe 
that there is something in everything, and to resolve 
to find it. Believe that everything is possible and 
resolve to prove it. Through this attitude your 
mind will expand in every direction, gaining light, 
wisdom and power from every source. To open 
the mind to truth on all sides is to bring conscious- 
ness into touch with an infinite sea of truth. The 
mind therefore will live perpetually in pure light, 
and will constantly gain a larger measure of this 
light. 



40 WHAT IS TRUTH 

Never say, '1 do not believe this." You draw 
down one of the shades by so doing thereby 
excluding some of the sunlight of real truth. Say 
rather, "I believe the truth that is back of every- 
thing, therefore I respect everything, and will pene- 
trate everything so as to find all the truth, and thus 
grow perpetually in the realization of all truth." 

Do not attempt to gain truth by absorbing the 
views of others. On the other hand, do not attempt 
to gain truth by secluding yourself from the views 
of others. Proceed to develop in yourself the under- 
standing of truth and you will find that the views 
of advancing minds will become nourishing food for 
that understanding. But so long as you have no 
real understanding of truth, or if your present con- 
ception of truth be undeveloped, the more advanced 
ideas you try to absorb the more confused you 
become. 

When you have begun to understand the truth, 
that is, when you have begun to unfold your own 
present conception of the truth, you will find that 
every person, every book, every idea and every 
belief that you may come in contact with will prove 
to be an inspiration, and will help to open your mind 
to higher conceptions and deeper realizations. 

In the search of truth we must remember that 
instructions from others are valuable only, in so far 
as we are able to interpret the inner meaning of the 
tangible facts presented. And this ability develops 



WHAT IS TRUTH 41 

by our trying to feel and understand the soul of 
every idea that enters the mind. Knowledge be- 
comes a power in us only when we feel within us 
the real soul of that knowledge. 

The real truth seeker must try to interpret the 
meaning that underlies all phenomena, all experi- 
ence, all events and all ideas. He must constantly 
keep the fact in mind that there is something back 
of everything. And he must seek this something in 
everything that is met in life. We shall find in this 
connection that the perpetual growth in truth will 
naturally follow the effort to realize the inner or 
soul existence in everything with which we may 
come in contact. Truth is found directly by seeking 
to understand the interior essence of life through 
one's own interpretations of life and through the 
development of one's own insight into principles, 
laws and things. In other words, when we enlarge 
our own present conception of truth we gain a 
larger interior conception of all truth as all truth 
appears from our present point of view. 

With most minds too much time is given in trying 
to find truth in the outside world, and not enough 
time is given to the development of that power with- 
in us that alone can know the truth. To receive 
a message of truth from some great mind is not 
suflficient. You must try to understand the spirit, 
the life and the real soul of that message by entering 
mentally into the deepest conception of that message 



42 WHAT IS TRUTH 

that you can possibly form in your own conscious- 
ness. Truth will not come to you through any mes- 
sage or form of instructions if you make no attempt 
to go beyond the literal statements. 

It is the inner life of things that contains the 
truth. Therefore, to understand the truth you 
must develop that insight that can discern the 
interior, the seemingly hidden, or the very soul of 
existence. The great secret in finding truth is to 
enter more closely into harmony with the interior 
soul life of everything, thereby developing the 
higher consciousness that actually knows truth. 

We should make it a point to listen to everyone 
who has a reasonable message; that is, a message 
that deals directly with truth, unsystematized truth ; 
but we should learn to interprcT'that message 
through our own conception of truth. We should 
welcome the thoughts of others on all subjects, but 
we should not accept those thoughts as final state- 
ments. We should not take the literal meaning, but 
look for the inner meaning of every word that is 
spoken. We should analyze the thoughts of others, 
but do our own independent thinking. Though we 
must not imagine that we have begun our own 
thinking simply because we have discarded one sys- 
tem of belief and adopted another. 

We should pay no attention to a message that 
deals simply with doctrines and opinions. It is life 
in all its manifestations that we wish to imder- 



WHAT IS TRUTH 43 

stand. And when we understand life we shall also 
understand everything that pertains to life, or that 
comes from life. A message of truth invariably 
deals with life and the living of life now. There- 
fore we can readily distinguish between what is 
claimed to be a message of truth and one that 
actually is a message of truth. 

What we are thinking at the present time is very 
important, therefore every thought of the present 
should be created in the likeness of truth; but it is 
equally important that we move constantly into 
larger thought, superior thought and higher con- 
ceptions of true thought. A message that presents 
a fixed system of belief ; that is, a belief supposed to 
contain the truth, is of no value to the truth seeker. 
To adopt a fixed system, no matter how good it 
may seem to be is to cease to be a seeker of truth. 

To seek the truth is to seek constantly a larger 
and larger understanding of truth; that is, to 
enlarge upcm one's present conception of truth and 
enter again and again into new truth. But neither 
new truths nor larger truths ever spring from a 
fixed system. To gain the understanding of larger 
truth and steadily grow into the absolute truth the 
mind must constantly expand. But the mind that 
adepts a fixed system will remain fixed, therefore 
cannot expand. 

What the truth seeker wants is methods that pro- 
mote individuality and originality, methods that 



^. 



44 * WHAT IS TRUTH 

lead the mind upward and onward in every direc- 
tion. It is not something to believe that is wanted, 
but something that we can use in developing the 
mind so that we can understand the very founda- 
tion of all belief. We do not want ideas that will 
simply satisfy the intellect. We also want methods 
that will expand, enlarge and develop the intellect. 
We do not want a religion or a philosophy that we 
can accept as authority. We want a science of 
living that will so develop man that the man himself 
can speak as one having authority. Truth does not 
come through believing something. It comes 
through the use of that something that unfolds, 
develops and elevates the mind. 

A great many truth seekers believe that it is 
necessary to work independently in order to pro- 
mote originality of thought, and therefore they have 
a sort of fear of personalities, systems and institu- 
tions. But this is a mistake, because nothing can 
hold you in bondage unless you fear that bondage. 
On the other hand, all things may at times serve 
as means through which a higher conception of 
greater truth may be attained. And here we should 
remember that more mental bondage comes from 
the fear of institutions than from the institutions 
themselves. The real truth seeker is friendly to all 
minds, to all beliefs, to all systems and to all insti- 
tutions, because he knows that back of them all 
there is some truth, and through friendly relations 



What is truth 45 

that truth may be found. He also knows that when 
we are friendly with all things all things will be 
with us, and what is with us will help us on to 
greater things. 

This being true, we should eliminate the critical 
spirit and encourage the analytical spirit. In brief, 
we should try all things and hold fast to the good. 
The critical mind may have plausible opinions, but 
it is not possible to realize the truth while we are in 
critical or antagonistic states of mind. This is a 
fact of enormous importance, a fact that should be 
so deeply impressed upon every mind that it will 
never be forgotten. The mind that is looking for 
the truth that is back of all things will not criticise 
anything, because to such a mind all things are 
paths to greater truth and therefore to the greater 
goal we may have in view. 

In our search of truth we must remember that it 
is not sufficient simply to seek the truth. We must 
also live the truth. If we fail to live the truth that 
we have found we will soon lose that truth, and also 
close the door to new truth. By living the truth 
that we now understand we open the mental door 
to more truth and larger truth, for the fact is that 
when we apply what we know we gain the power 
to know more. This is especially true when we 
live in the. aspiring or the spiritual attitude. And 
we livejn the spiritual attitude when our mind is 
open to the best from all sources. 



46 WHAT IS TRUTH 

As we proceed in the application of any particu- 
lar principle, we shall so enlarge the mind that other 
and more important principles will be compre- 
hended. The api^ication of all of these in turn will 
expand consciousness still farther, and so on indefi- 
nitely, imtil a universe of wisdom is held in the 
grasp of the mind. To apply the truth in its present 
limited phases will develop the understanding of 
larger phases. Any mind, therefore, may begin 
with the most limited understanding of truth, and 
in the course of a few years have an understanding 
that cannot be measured. 

Nothing should be accepted as truth that does 
not appeal to reason. The idea presented may be 
true, but if it does not appeal to your reason you 
cannot apply it now ; and what you cannot apply is 
of no present use to you. However, do not criticise 
or condemn what you cannot accept. There is truth 
back of it because there is truth back of everything, 
even though you may not see it now. Therefore 
suspend judgment for the present and proceed to 
develop a finer insight and a finer mind so that you 
may in the future see what may be hidden in the 
present. 

Although all truth must appeal to reason before 
it can be applied, reason must not be depended upon 
exclusively in finding the truth. It is the finer per- 
ceptions and insights that occupy the most impor- 
tant position in the discovery of truth. Therefore 



WHAT IS TRUTH 47 

if you are a truth seeker proceed to develop those 
faculties by using them constantly wherever your 
attention may be directed. 

If all these perceptions and insights were uni- 
versally developed, we should all see the truth so 
clearly that there would be practically no disagree- 
ments concerning what is true and what is not true 
about this sphere of existence. However, our 
object must not be to try to agree, but to develop 
the power to understand the truth, for when this 
power is developed perfect agreement among us 
all will come of itself. 

In the search of truth the imagination must be 
held under perfect control. The majority, however, 
among the truth seekers permit their imaginations 
to form all sorts of ideas and conceptions, and they 
frequently accept these as true, regardless of evi- 
dence. This is one reason why illusions and half 
truths are so numerous. 

Another essential is to keep the emotional nature 
in poise. Our emotions tend to excite the imagina- 
tion, and a number of artificial ideas will be im- 
pressed upon the mind. Many of these will be so 
deeply impressed that they appear to be true, 
because when the mind is in an intense emotional 
state nearly every idea formed at the time will be 
deeply felt. And what is deeply felt we usually 
accept as the truth whether it is or no. 



48 WHAT IS TRUTH 

One of the greatest essentials in the search of 
truth is the spiritual viewpoint; that is, to examine 
all things from the principle that the soul or the 
reality that is back of all things is absolutely perfect 
and absolutely true. The purpose of life is per- 
petual growth in the realization of perfection. 
Therefore we must stand upon the principle of 
possible perfection in all things, and deal with all 
things according to that principle. 

The understanding of truth does not mean the 
acceptance of a fixed idea that has proven itself to 
be true, but the perpetual unfoldment and enlarge- 
ment of that idea through the constant growth of 
the mind in the realization of truth. The process 
of understanding is not a fixed attitude of mind, 
but a constant deepening and widening of mind as 
consciousness grows deeper and deeper into the 
very soul of reality, and expands in every direction 
toward the wider comprehension of reality. 

You may think you understand the deep things 
of life, but there is still a larger universe beyond 
what you may understand. And to understand this 
the mind must constantly enlarge and deepen its 
understanding toward greater depths of truth and 
wisdom. Every idea that is found contains truth, 
or the possibility of some unfoldment of truth; 
therefore by entering the soul of every idea and 
enlarging the present conception of that soul the 



WHAT IS TRUTH 49 

hidden truth will be found. In addition many paths 
to other truth will be revealed. 

Higher truth is discovered through the higher 
consciousness; therefore to try to compel people to 
believe what is beyond their present state of con- 
sciousness is a violation of mental law. Instead, 
we should teach man to develop himself and he will 
gain the greater understanding of life. He will 
also through this higher development learn to seek 
truth, learn where to find truth and learn how to 
apply truth. 

The real secret of the truth seeker is to begin 
with his present conception of truth and develop 
himself in mind and soul through the perpetual 
enlargement of that conception; in brief, develop 
your power to understand greater truth by using 
the truth you now understand. This will positively 
give you the power to understand more truth and 
higher truth, and this is the great purpose we have 
in view. 



CHAPTER IV. 

WHERE TO FIND THE TRUTH. 

The search for truth is becoming more and more 
extensive, and the desire to know truth for the sake 
of knowing is increasing with remarkable rapidity. 
For the same reason the number of new systems of 
belief are also increasing in proportion, as it is the 
general opinion that it is only 'through special sys- 
tems of thought that the truth can be found. And 
the supply along any line of desire is always equal 
to the demand. 

But the demands of the human mind are not 
always properly placed. Therefore we find many 
minds who desire systems based upon the latest 
conceptions of truth instead of upon the truth itself. 
This state of affairs causes rivalry among the vari- 
ous systems, and the question with them becomes 
not how to find more truth and live more perfectly 
according to the truth we know, but instead, which 
system is correct and which one is not. 

Opposing systems, however, cannot all be correct, 
but since the advocates of each system believe their 
own to be correct they finally come to the conclusion 
that their own is the only true system. This con- 
so 



WHAT IS TRUTH 51 

elusion is perfectly natural, because if you believe 
your belief to be correct, all other beliefs that do not 
agree with your own must be incorrect from your 
point of view. You therefore feel perfectly justified 
in declaring your own belief to be the only one 
through which the truth may be found. 

The average mind looks at things only from his 
own point of view. He has not enlarged his con- 
sciousness sufficiently to know how it feels to be 
on the other side, therefore has nothing but his own 
limited experience upon which to base judgment. 
Accordingly, he cannot be blamed for what he 
thinks about his own favorite ideas. Though we 
must remember that no matter how convinced he 
may feel as to the exactness of his own conclusions 
we must hot accept them until we have compared 
them with others and found them to be superior. 

When we study the nature of the mind we find 
that the tendency of the average person to think 
that his system of belief is the only system through 
which the truth can be found, comes from the gen- 
eral tendency to worship systems of thought instead 
of the all truth that is back of every system. When 
you know that all systems are but varying interpre- 
tations of one absolute truth you will never say that 
your own system constitutes the only field wherein 
truth may be found, because you will know that all 
minds, even the most ignorant, know some of the 



52 WHAT IS TRUTH 

truth. If they did not they could not continue to 
exist. 

The very fact that a person continues to live and 
continues to secure certain results in providing for 
the essentials of life, proves that he is possessed of 
a considerable portion of the truth. If a person had 
no truth everything that he had would be false at 
its foundation, which would make his own indi- 
vidual existence impossible. This is a fact that we 
must well remember. 

Another fact equally important is that no person 
can secure results in any field of action unless he 
applies the truth in that field. An action based 
upon mere falseness can produce nothing. Such 
an action cannot even enable a man to walk across 
the floor. To walk at all you must apply certain 
laws correctly. And to apply any law correctly you 
must have a correct conception of that law, con- 
scious or unconscious. And to have a correct con- 
ception of anything is to know the truth to that 
extent. 

The true use of anything can alone produce 
results, and the true use of an)rthing is the applica- 
tion of a certain phase of the truth that lies at the 
foundation of that particular thing. Our conception 
of such truth may be subconscious only, but it exists 
in our minds. We possess it, and when we apply 
it we have results. 



WHAT IS TRUTH 53 

There are a great many things that we do not 
understand objectively, but the fact that we use 
them successfully proves that certain parts of our 
minds know the underlying laws and can, at least 
to a degree, apply those laws. According to these 
facts we realize that everything that lives must 
necessarily be in contact with the truth somewhere. 
If it were not it would produce a misstep at every 
turn, and nothing can continue to exist that pro- 
duces missteps or mistakes only. 

The average person deplores the fact that he 
makes so many mistakes, but when we stop to 
consider how many things we do that are not mis- 
takes we conclude that things are not so bad after 
all. We have formed the habit of taking special 
notice of our mistakes just as the press of the world 
records mostly what is not good or desirable, 
because such things are exceptional, therefore con- 
stitute news. / Normal and wholesome actions in 
the social world do not constitute news./ They are 
too numerous. /And being normal they can be found 
in every nook and corner in the world. ^ It is the 
normal, that is, the right and the good, that consti- 
tutes the rule of action in the world. 'It is the 
abnormal, or the bad, that constitutes the exception. 

A man may act like a gentleman sixty minutes 
out of the hour and we pay no attention to that 
fact. However, should he act contrary to the prin- 
ciple of right for one minute the fact would be 



54 WHAT IS TRUTH 

noted by everybody. And if that particular act 
was striking it would be wired all over the world. 
In his case the good would be sixty times as large 
as the evil, nevertheless, it would be the latter only 
that would constitute news, being so exceptional. 

In like manner we may, as individuals, act accord- 
ing to the truth as far as we see it, and every minute 
of the hour. And no one pays special attention to 
such an unbroken series of good acts, unless, of 
course, those acts should be very striking or extra- 
ordinary. However, the very moment we make a 
mistake attention is aroused at once. If we make 
many of them our attention is very much concerned 
because we know by experience, if not by insight, 
that when the abnormal outnumbers the normal the 
end is near at hand. 

Since a person can bring physical existence to an 
end simply by causing the abnormal actions to 
become more numerous than the normal ones, we 
can readily understand that he could not exist at all 
if all of his actions were abnormal. In fact, con- 
scious existence could not even have a beginning 
under such conditions, and organic life would not 
be possible for a second. A life where every act 
was a mistake would be absolute chaos, and a state 
of absolute chaos is nothing. /Therefore, so long 
as a person lives at all it is evident that his normal 
actions are more numerous that his mistakes. 7 



WHAT IS TRUTH 55 

And a normal action is always a right action. A 
right action is the application of a truth in one or 
more of its phases, because nothing can be right 
imless it is based upon the truth. This proves that 
every existing entity knows consciously or uncon- 
sciously certain portions of the truth; And that 
therefore there can possibly be no one system 
through which all truth may be found, y 

The problem that confronts us all, however, is 
how to so relate ourselves to the all truth about us, 
that we may find as much truth as we may need 
now in order to make every action right that we 
may express. We know that the ills of personal 
existence come from mistakes or from abnormal 
actions. We understand, therefore, that if we could 
prevent all mistakes we could prevent all ills. 

To accomplish this some advocate this system and 
some that, each one believing that his system is the 
one that contains the secret. The fact, however, 
that all systems produce results has led to the belief 
that results secured through the system of another 
were secured through the aicj^pj evil power* But 
here the question arises, how can an evil power 
make correct use of the laws of life ; and again, how 
can evil power know the truth obtained from those 
laws ? For it is a fact that evil in every instance is 
the opposite, or rather the absence, of truth. 

To build a bridge you require mathematics. 
Without mathematics you cannot build that bridge. 



56 WHAT IS TRUTH 

Therefore, whoever can build bridges or who does 
build bridges, understands mathematical principles. 
And for anyone to say that such or such a person 
builds bridges with the aid of an evil power — a 
power that would naturally tend to eliminate the 
truth of mathematics as well as remove mathe- 
maticians from their positions, is to make a state- 
ment too absurd to be considered for a moment 
among scientific men. Nevertheless, when we come 
to mental, moral and spiritual fields we make state- 
ments every day that are equally absurd; and we 
even try to prove that such statements are inspira- 
tion. 

The fact in this connection, however, is simply 
this, that it is only the good that can produce good 
results. And it is only through the understanding 
of certain phases of truth that we can apply the 
good. We conclude, therefore, that any man, no 
matter what his beliefs may be, who secures good 
results in any field understands the truth to that 
extent. . 

The whole universe is based upon absolute law. 
If it were not, space would contain nothing but 
chaos, and nothing could exist. Therefore every- 
thing that is to be done must be done according to 
law. We cannot go outside of the law if we wish 
to construct bridges or engines. Neither can we 
go outside of the law if we wish to build character 
or make real the ideal. We cannot perform a single 



WHAT IS TRUTH 57 

good deed without using some of the laws of life. 
We cannot convey our ideas through language 
without using some of these laws. We cannot do 
anything and produce the same results under the 
same conditions without using one or more of these 
laws. And to use the laws of life correctly is to 
use understanding^ a certain phase of the truth. 

Every person is producing certain results in his 
life. Some of those results are great and others 
small, but they are results. Therefore everybody 
knows some of the truth, as it is only through the 
application of truth that results can be secured. 
We thus see the folly of claiming any one system to 
be the only channel through which truth can be 
found. 

The truth is just as universal as life, and in fact 
is the very essence or soul of life. Therefore every- 
thing that lives, lives some of the truth — as much of 
the truth as present consciousness can comprehend. 
Every constructive action of the mind opens the 
way to greater truth. But no mind can act con- 
structively to good advantage as long as a certain 
interpretation of truth is accepted as final. The 
fact is that when you accept anything as final you 
bring your mind to a standstill in that sphere of 
action. And the fact that the whole world has 
accepted certain spiritual and metaphysical ideas as 
final is one reason why real spirituality is found so 
rarely. The same is true, however, in various fields 



58 WHAT IS TRUTH 

of mental and intellectual realms. Therefore no 
matter how remarkable a discovery you may make, 
if you accept that as final in its own field you stop 
there; progress is suspended; further growth is 
retarded along that line. 

And after the new discovery has become a system 
and lost its life, as all truth does when formulated 
into a system, we are just as much in mental or 
spiritual darkness as before; for we must bear in 
mind that every discovery that we look upon as final 
in its own field loses its soul ; that is, it dies, leaving 
us the shell of mere belief only. This is natural 
because all belief comes from within. And as soon 
as we formulate a number of truths into a fixed 
system, we begin to worship the system, thereby 
ignoring the life and the spirit of the within. To 
ignore the within, however, is to turn away from 
the source of all truth, all life and all power, which 
means that we separate ourselves from those very 
things that we wish to secure in greater abundance. 
In this connection we should also remember that 
the very moment we look upon a truth as final we 
cease to rise in search of more. It is only the rising 
mind that receives the life, the substance and the 
spirit of things. And it is only that mind that is 
ever in search of more truth that can really under- 
stand truth. We know the truth only while we 
are steadily moving upward and onward into more 
truth. 



WHAT IS TRUTH 59 

Truth is everywhere, and truth alone does things. 
Therefore everything that produces results in its 
own sphere of action demonstrates truth. And 
whoever has results has truth. Every demonstra- 
tion is the result of truth, be it in the healing of 
disease by any method whatever, or the building of 
a beautiful mansion by any method whatever. 
Every method that produces results or that emanci- 
pates, builds, constructs, beautifies or elevates, is 
based upon truth and employs truth. This is natural 
because truth is everywhere, so that every method 
can touch truth, be fixed or rooted in truth, and be 
a constant expression of truth. 

If every demonstration was not the result of 
truth some demonstrations would be the result of 
untruth, which is impossible. The false cannot take 
away pain at any time. The false cannot invent 
and construct machinery. The false cannot develop 
a child into a musical genius. The false cannot 
write a poem, nor cause barren waste to become a 
garden of highly developed roses. In brief, the 
false cannot do anything. 

The laws of the body are just as much in the 
hands of truth as are the laws of the mind or the 
soul. Therefore a man who builds a house or per- 
fects his physical form, employs the truth just as 
well as the man who builds character or unfolds 
cosmic consciousness. 



60 WHAT IS TRUTH 

AH life is good. Everything is sacred, and the 
truth is the foundation of the entire universe. Thus 
we understand that the only truth is the universal 
truth; and the only way to find universal truth is 
to live in conscious touch with everything that gives 
expression to life or truth in any form or manner. 
Universal truth is not encased in this religious 
system or in that philosophical belief. Universal 
truth i^the spirit of every atom, of every flower, 
of every creature, of every entity in existence. 
There is no special path to this truth because every 
path leads to this truth. It can be found every- 
where and in everything. Everything that lives is 
moving into more and more of this truth, because 
to live is to move forward, and to move forward is 
to enter a larger measure of the all truth. 

Every mind lives in the truth and actually 
breathes the very life of truth. Therefore to find 
more truth we must live more, and not search for 
truth in any particular system, but to try to enter 
into closer mental touch with the all truth as it lives 
and moves in all things. 

Your method for finding the truth you may need 
now ; it may be the only method that works for you 
at present. In like manner the methods that others 
employ may be the only ones that they can use now. 
Therefore we must never say that our method is the 
only method that will work for everybody, or that 



WHAT IS TRUTH 61 

everybody can find truth now in the same place as 
we are finding truth now. 

In this connection, however, we must watch a 
certain tendency that is present more or less in all 
minds. When we find a new method that does the 
very thing that we have never succeeded in doing 
before, there is a tendency to exaggerate or over- 
value the merit of that method. This tendency 
intoxicates the mind, so to speak, and magnifies 
the new discovery, so it appears much larger than 
it really is. Naturally, we conclude that it is the 
best of its kind. In fact, must be the best to our 
view of thinking, because our view at the time is so 
magnified. 

From this belief of the best there is only a tiny 
step to the belief of the only ; and the tendency that 
produces the former will also produce the latter. 
Whenever a mind declares that his is the best he is 
on the way to the belief that his is the only. And if 
he is not thoroughly balanced he will soon enter 
the latter view. The reason the mind acts in this 
way is easily understood when we become familiar 
with psychological laws. But those who think they 
have the only way to truth do not study psycho- 
logical laws, because their belief has limited their 
minds to the idea that they have found the one only 
law. However, the very moment that any mind 
begins to study psychological laws the ''only truth" 
idea will vanish like the darkness before the light. 



62 WHAT IS TRUTH 

When we all understand the mind, and also .why 
we think what we think, all systems of belief will 
be discarded. Then we will all seek the truth itself 
directly, and seek it everywhere. The result will 
be perpetual growth into the truth. We shall then 
find the truth that gives freedom to the whole life of 
man — ^the truth that develops every part of the 
being of man for a higher and truer use. Accord- 
ingly, the life more abundant will follow. And 
from such a life comes everything that mind may 
desire. 



CHAPTER V. 

WHERE WE GET OUR IDEAS. 

Ideas do not come to us from the without. The 
belief that we are living in a world of ready-made 
ideas upon which we may draw as we like is not 
true. The human mind is not a mere receptacle 
into which ideas may flow from some outer source. 
The ideas that exist in the individual mind are 
created by that mind, and by that mind alone. The 
belief that all ideas come from some external source 
— that we simply have to open our mind to receive 
them — ^makes the mind a mere channel through 
which something may pass from one place to 
another ; or it may make the mind a mere automaton 
upon which any force from without may act for 
good or otherwise. This belief, however, is very 
common, and it is one of the principal obstacles to 
originality and greatness, as well as to the finding 
and knowing of real truth. 

The belief that man develops by opening more 
widely his mind so as to receive a greater number 
of ideas from the cosmic fields about him, tends to 
prevent the further development of the mind. 
While the realization of the fact that man develops 

63 



64 WHAT IS TRUTH 

by creating more and more original ideas of his 
own will tend to promote further development. 
Any system of thought or belief, therefore, that 
compels the mind to accept the ideas of others will 
retard the progress, not only of the individual but 
of the race. On the other hand, anything that 
teaches man how to create his own ideas and do his 
own original thinking will promote the development 
of greatness. 

It is a well known fact that every form of great- 
ness comes from original thinking, and those who 
understand the natures of mind and soul know that 
original thinking is the direct result of man's power 
to create consciously his own ideas according to his 
highest conception of what is truth. / The mind that 
can create ideas has begim to exercise its own crea- 
tive powers. And when those powers are mastered 
anything can be created or recreated. Through 
these powers man can recreate his own personality, 
his own character and his own mentality. He can 
recreate his own mental world, change all his exte- 
rior surroundings, and create his own destiny. 

Man has the power to become a master in the 
largest sense of that term. And the first step is to 
create consciously and intelligently his own ideas. 
To begin, the fact that ideas do not come from 
without must be realized. We may receive impres- 
sions from external sources, but we do not receive 
ideas from those sources. The only ideas that exist 



WHAT IS TRUTH 65 

in any mind are the ideas that that mind itself has 
created. 

In this connection we must remember that an 
idea is not a belief about something, but the result 
of your own mental conception of that something. 
You may accept any number of beliefs about things 
without actually thinking about those things. But 
when you try to understand those things from your 
own point of view, you form a mental conception of 
your own, and the result is ideas of your own. 
These ideas may be crude, nevertheless, you have 
begun to exercise your own creative power, and 
may so develop that power that the future may find 
you in advance of the greatest minds of the age. 

To exercise this creative power try to form men- 
tal conceptions of everything that may enter your 
mind ; that is, try to understand all things of which 
you are conscious by looking at those things from 
your own individual point of view. Do not ask 
what others may think about this or that, but ask 
yourself, What do I think? How do these things 
appear to me while viewed through the eyes of my 
own mind? Your conclusion may be imperfect at 
first, but you are arousing your own creative pc"v- 
ers; you are forming mental conceptions in your 
own mentality; and you are creating ideas of your 
own. You are therefore developing originality and 
have entered the path to greatness as well as the 



66 WHAT IS TRUTH 

path to the higher and better understanding of 
greater truth. 

To bring your mental creative power into full 
play the more impressions from the without that 
you admit in your mind the better, provided those 
impressions have quality and worth; because to 
form conceptions we must have something about 
which to think, and both quality and quantity should 
be sought from every source. Impressions come 
through the senses, and indicate to consciousness 
the fact that there is something real back of those 
phases of life that are represented by the impres- 
sions thus received. 

When you look at something you gain an impres- 
sion. But that impression is not at first an idea. 
The impression simply indicates the existence of 
something without giving any definite information 
as to what that something might actually be. If 
you accept that impression as final on the subject 
you fail to form any idea of your own with regard 
to it. Thus your creative power is not brought into 
action through the coming of that impression, and 
no original thought is formed. On the other hand, 
if you proceed to form some definite mental concep- 
tion about that something, the existence of which 
was indicated by the impression, you will form an 
idea of your own, thereby developing the power of 
original thought 



WHAT IS TRUTH 67 

The same impressions, however, do not originate 
the same ideas in different minds ; nor is this neces- 
sary. The purpose is that each individual mind is 
to form ideas of his own in connection with every 
impression that is received so that the power of 
original thought may be developed. To a material- 
istic mind the sight of a forest may simply suggest 
lumber and profit; but to a lOfty mind the same 
forest may suggest the beautiful idea of God's first 
temples; and he may enter to worship in states 
more sublime than he ever knew before. What 
ideas we shall form therefore from impressions 
thus received will depend entirely upon our own 
attitude and purpose in life. Though if we actually 
form ideas according to our present capacity we 
shall take real steps in the right direction. 

Our interpretations of things may differ for a 
time, but if we use these interpretations for the pur- 
pose of creating original ideas we shall all reach 
gradually but surely the same high goal, even 
though our several paths in the beginning were not 
the same. We realize therefore the folly of criticis- 
ing those who differ from us in their ideas about 
things, because so long as they are creating ideas 
of their own they are moving forward, building 
both mind and character; and accordingly deserve 
only the highest praise. 

We want everybody to become much. We want 
everybody to live the largest and best life that is 



68 WHAT IS TRUTH 

possible in their present state of development. And 
since we know that original thinking is the secret 
of greater things, we must invariably rejoice when- 
ever we discover an individual who has begun to 
create his own ideas. The fact that his ideas may! 
differ from our own should not disturb us, because 
when a mind begins original thinking that mind 
will become larger and larger, and will ere long 
gain just as large an understanding of truth as we 
have, and possibly much larger still in the course 
of time. 

In dealing with people, therefore, our olyect 
should not be to persuade them to accept our system 
of belief. On the contrary, we should try to encour- 
age them in original thinking. We should try to 
present methods through which they may become 
so great in mind and soul that they can understand 
the whole truth for themselves. The mind that 
becomes larger and larger will know the truth and 
live the truth without being persuaded by others. 
Therefore all our efforts for the race should be 
directed upon the development of larger minds and 
greater souls. To promote this purpose original 
thinking along the lines of seeking, finding and 
knowing the truth is the one great essential. Let 
people believe what they like for the present, but do 
your best, by all means, to stimulate the desire in 
all minds to create their own individual ideas about 
everything. 



WHAT IS TRUTH 69 

The truth is everywhere. We all can see it if 

we have sufficient mental capacity; no one has the 

monopoly; nor is it necessary for us to gain our 

understanding of truth through certain persons or 

systems. All minds are equal before the Infinite 

Mind. And each individual mind must understand 

the truth through his own mentality. We can know 

only by using our own power to know. And that 

power develops through the constant use of creative 

capacity, that is, original thinking, or the creation 
of our own ideas about everything about which we 

may think. 

If we wish people to see as much of the true and 
beautiful as we see, we should help them to develop 
the same high states of mind. The same mental 
altitudes produce the same points of view, the same 
points of view produce the same mental concep- 
tions, and the same mental conceptions produce the 
same ideas. In consequence, when we reach the 
heights of great souls we shall see life as they see 
it ; we shall think the same thoughts that they think ; 
and the peace and the joy that they feel we shall 
feel also. 

Do not criticise what you do not understand, or 
what does not appeal to you. Instead, develop your 
mind more and more ; and what you do not under- 
stand today will be simplicity itself tomorrow. We 
are wasting too much time trying to change each 
other's belief. If we would all use that time helping 



70 WHAT IS TRUTH 

each other on to greater heights of understanding 
and power we should ere long become so highly 
developed that we all could see all things from all 
points of view. Then we should all agree in all 
things without even trying to agree. 

We cannot find the truth by following this system 
or that, but by using the best systems and methods 
in the development of a superior understanding; 
and in the use of methods we must remember that 
impressions or beliefs have no value except as indi- 
cators pointing the way to some hidden reality or 
truth. Therefore those who receive the wisdom of 
the past, or the impressions of the present, as some- 
thing to have and to hold, gain absolutely nothing. 
However, those who try to form original mental 
conceptions of everything that enters the mind 
from any source, will not only develop originality 
and greatness, but will sooner or later form those 
very ideas that have always produced the greatest 
things in life. 

We are changed, improved or transformed 
through the renewal of our minds. And this 
renewal is the result of our creating superior ideas 
of everything about which we may think. To form 
superior ideas it is necessary to improve constantly 
upon all of our mental conceptions; in brief, to 
accept no conclusion as final, but to try to see all 
things through a larger and a larger understand- 
ing The greatest mistake that can be made in this 



WHAT IS TRUTH 71 

connection is to accept ideas from other minds with- 
out trying to improve upon those ideas in our own 
minds. 

The ideas we think we receive from other minds 
are not necessarily ideas, but usually only impres- 
sions of those ideas, because the c«ily ideas that can 
exist in any mind are the ones that that mind cre- 
ates itself. Those impressions, however, that are 
received from the ideas expressed by others may 
become instrumental in forming ideas of our own 
if employed for that purpose ; but if they are simply 
accepted without further thought they are value- 
less. 

Originality comes not by accepting beliefs, but 
from the creation of superior ideas about all things 
that are represented by our beliefs. And the more 
numerous our beliefs or impressions are the better, 
provided we select only the best. There are some 
who are trying to develop originality by refusing to 
listen to other minds, thinking that they must 
depend wholly upon their own conclusions. But 
originality does not come by ignoring the thoughts 
of others. Originality comes by improving upon 
those thoughts. And since we must know the best 
thoughts in the world today in order to create some- 
thing better, we should familiarize ourselves with 
the best ideas and the best minds everywhere. Then 
we should try to form superior ideas in our own 
minds. We may not succeed at once in forming 



72 WHAT IS TRUTH 

ideas that are superior to those of the master minds, 
but we will in the effort create ideas of our own, 
thus taking the path to greatness and the path to 
greater truth. And by continuing in this path we 
shall soon rise to those heights from where we can 
give the world something better than has ever been 
given before. 

To form superior ideas look at the subject under 
consideration from as many viewpoints as possible 
and enter into the finest grades of mental life during 
the process. Learn to feel deeply whenever you 
think, and try to see the very soul of all thought. 
All such effort, however, must be gentle, though 
filled with a strong, penetrating desire that gives 
the whole attention to the spirit of perfection that 
permeates all things. Refine the mind by training 
yourself to think through the feeling of your finest 
conception of refinement, and hold attention cen- 
tered upon your highest realization of what may be 
termed cosmic substance. This substance is the 
perfect substance from which all substance is 
formed. Therefore it is the highest and finest that 
we can think of. It is the least material, and by 
thinking about it your mind enters into a finer 
consciousness through which superior ideas will 
invariably be formed. 

Having realized this fine mental life, take up your 
various beliefs and try to form superior ideas about 
the principles or realities which those beliefs repre- 



WHAT IS TRUTH 73 

sent. You will have results almost from the begin- 
ning. Then search everywhere for ideas that are 
superior to your own in order that you can improve 
upon them all. Whether you do or not you will at 
any rate improve upon your own power of original- 
ity, and to continue in that improvement is to reach 
those heights in the course of time where you can 
improve upon almost anything. Through this prac- 
tice discoveries and inventions of great value may 
appear to you at any time. In fact, you are liable 
to do greater things than ever were done before, 
no matter how insignificant you may be today. By 
creating your own ideas about all things you begin 
the development of creative power and there is no 
limit to what this power can do. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE TWO SIDES OF TRUTH. 

Everything in life has two sides. When we view 
anything from the one side only the result is a half 
truth. But when the same thing is viewed from 
both sides the result will be a whole truth. The 
physical scientist who ignores metaphysics has 
therefore nothing but half truths to present to the 
world. And the same is true of the metaphysician 
who ignores the physical side of that which he 
attempts to study and understand. 

A half truth generally seems plausible, in fact so 
plausible at times that only a few can detect its 
incompleteness. But the conclusions of the half 
truth invariably mislead the mind at every turn. A 
half truth, however, not only misleads the mind, 
but gradually eliminates the power of discrimina- 
tion so that the mind finally becomes incapable of 
finding the truth when real truth does appear. 
That person that has followed half truths all his 
life is unable to know real truth when face to face 
with it. And as the majority are more or less in 
this condition this phase of our study of truth 
becomes extremely important. 

74 



WHAT IS TRUTH 75 

Every modern system of belief is filled with half 
truths, but it will not be necessary here to analyze 
them all. A general analysis of the most striking 
illustrations will be sufficient, as through such an 
analysis anyone will be able to detect the flaws in 
the others. One of the most striking of these illus- 
trations in the thinking of half truths is foimd in 
the statement that mind is the only power. At first 
sight it may appear that the mind is the cause of 
everything, and that it does everything, but a deeper 
study reveals the fact that the mind is only one 
phase of the only power. There is but one power 
in the universe; that is, one fundamental force of 
action, but this power differentiates itself into a 
vast number of phases, and any one phase is as 
real as any of the others. 

We have recently discovered the fact that the 
mind exercises great power over the body. And 
for that reason many have come to the conclusion 
that the mind is the only power that effects the body. 
But this is a half truth and comes from viewing 
the subject from one side only. Many people who 
accept this view go so far as to say that it is wrong 
to use anything else but mind whenever we wish to 
relieve or effect the body. But those who follow 
half truths are never consistent; and in conse- 
quence, while affirming that mind alone can help 
the body, they continue to protect the body with 



76 WHAT IS TRUTH 

physical clothes and feed the body with physical 
food. 

As a rule, people who follow half truths forget 
that it is the same power that has created every- 
thing, and that therefore the things that are seen 
are just as real and good as the things that are not 
seen, and, of course, vice versa. In brief, all things 
are real in their own sphere of existence, and all 
things are good in their own proper places. 

In this connection we must remember that the 
mind always acts through agencies; whether these 
be muscles, nerves, senses, intellect or thought, they 
are agencies of mind; and one agency is not 
inferior to another. If it is right for the mind to 
use thought in removing a physical condition or 
disease, it is also right for the mind to use muscle 
in performing a surgical operation, should it be 
wise and necessary to perform such an operation. 
In both instances it is the mind acting upon the 
body through an agency. On the other hand, if it 
is wrong to perform a surgical operation when 
some simple remedy would avail, it would also be 
wrong to waste precious mental energy in over- 
coming physical ailments that could just as easily 
be removed by some simple or natural method. 

The question is, not what to discard entirely and 
what to use exclusively ; the question is, to determine 
what means or methods will produce the best and the 
quickest results now under present conditions. Use 



WHAT IS TRUTH 77 

any power when that particular power is needed, 
and use it well, because every power is but an 
expression of the one Supreme Power. All is good 
in its place, and all is made for the service of man ; 
therefore all things can be used in adding to the 
welfare of man. 

When you believe that mind is the only power, 
you limit yourself more and more to such powers 
as may be expressed on the mental plane. In conse- 
quence you will be compelled to depend almost 
entirely upon mental force, and will be helpless 
when that force is weakened, which frequently hap- 
pens with those who neglect the development of 
everything but mind. So long as you believe that 
the mind is the only power you open the mental door 
to mental powers alone. You eliminate all others 
and cannot come into possession of those marvelous 
spiritual powers that alone can make man great. 

A study of people who believe that mind is the 
only power, reveals clearly that their work is con- 
ducted entirely upon the mental plane; and in too 
many instances gives expression to the narrowest 
phases of mentality. When you carry this idea of 
the allness of mind to its extreme conclusion, vou 
eliminate all the expressions of the mind to that of 
what may be called mental force or mind vibrations. 
You will depend upon such actions of mind for 
ever)rthing. You will expect those vibrations to act 
upon things directly and to do anything desired 



78 WHAT IS TRUTH 

without the use of agencies. Ability, mental capac- 
ity, character, intelHgence, talent and, in brief, all 
the natural functions and powers of the mind will 
be neglected. All development, therefore, will be 
retarded, as the whole of attention is centered upon 
the efforts of mental vibration; that is, the mind 
acting with a certain purpose in view without the 
use of agencies through which to act. Finally the 
mind becomes so dull that it is even incapable of 
retaining conscious control of its own mental vibra- 
tions. In fact, by narrowing itself down to one 
thing it becomes so small that even that one thing 
is neither understood nor controlled. 

It is therefore evident that by thinking that the 
mind is the only power, your mind will become so 
small and so superficial that it will be incapable of 
original and individual thought. It will be unable 
to stand upon its own feet and will have to depend 
wholly upon some fixed system. 

Life is complex and gives expression to many 
powers. Mind is one of these, but only one of 
many. And if we would develop the power of the 
mind we must train ourselves to give a larger and 
a more perfect expression to all the other powers 
as well. We add to the power and the capacity of 
every single function by increasing the power of 
all the other functions. And the leading faculty of 
any mind will have the greatest ability and capacity 



WHAT IS TRUTH 79 

when backed up, so to speak, with a number of other 
faculties that are also strong and highly developed. 

Another statement heard frequently among those 
who see only the one side of truth is this, that 
everything is all right if we think so. This idea, of 
course, is founded upon the belief that wrong 
thought is the only cause of evil or imperfection. 
But if we should follow this belief to its extreme 
and inevitable conclusion, we would have to say 
that thought is everything, and that all else is noth- 
ing. If your thinking makes things right or wrong 
the things themselves can have neither power nor 
qualities. And if this were true things could not 
even have existence, because, to exist, a thing must 
have powers and qualities of some kind. 

According to such a belief the cheapest clothing 
would be rich and rare if we only thought so; the 
most homely face would be charmingly beautiful if 
we only thought so ; the most ordinary music would 
be simply inspiring if we thought so ; and the worst 
meal that was ever prepared would be perfectly 
delicious if we thought it was. Thousands of other 
conclusions equally absurd would naturally follow 
our attempt to describe things according to this 
belief. But this is always the case with half truths. 
They seem plausible as long as they are not closely 
examined. 

If we should adopt the belief that everything is 
all right if we think it is, we would soon be unable 



80 WHAT IS TRUTH 

to distinguish between degrees of perfection; our 
judgment would become so poor that we could see 
no difference between the common and the worthy, 
between the homely and the beautiful, between the 
false and the true. To us everything would be 
lovely, but loveliness would mean nothing more to 
us than the most superficial sentiment. We would 
say that all things are good because we think so, 
but we should be unable to understand what good- 
ness actually means, therefore would fail to grow 
in the realization of goodness. 

The whole truth in this connection is that when 
things are wrong your thinking they are right will 
not make them right. But you can through the 
proper use of your thought cause things to change 
and become right. The way you think, when in the 
presence of wrong things, will determine to a very 
great extent how you are to be affected by those 
things, and also how much those things may be 
changed by your action under the circumstances. 
But the things themselves, as well as their present 
conditions, are just as real as your thought, though 
they will obey the power of your thought completely 
if that power is properly employed. 

You may listen to the most beautiful music, but 
you will fail to enjoy it if you are in a critical frame 
of mind. The lack of enjoyment will in this 
instance come not from things, but from your per- 
verted thought about things. Your wrong thought, 



WHAT IS TRUTH 81 

however, had no effect whatever upon the music. 
The music was good in spite of what you thought, 
but your own thought prevented you from getting 
any good out of the music. On the other hand, you 
may listen to music that is full of discord, but if you 
refuse to be disturbed by discord you will remain 
in harmony. The fact, however, that you remain 
in harmony will not make the music harmonious, 
proving conclusively that under such circumstances 
your state of mind affects only yourself, and does 
not effect those things that exist outside of yourself. 

However, you may try to think that inharmoni- 
ous music is actually sweet and lovely, and may 
wholly succeed through this suggestion in render- 
ing yourself unconscious to the discord. You may 
in consequence enjoy the music to some extent, but 
your judgment of music will suffer. Should you 
practice this method frequently the best music 
would after a while fail to give more enjoyment 
than ordinary music, and you could not possibly 
enter into the realization of the soul of music itself. 

If you undertake a certain work and think you 
are going to fail, the confusion of mind and the 
scattering of forces produced by such a frame of 
mind, will almost invariably produce failures. On 
the other hand, if you think you are going to suc- 
ceed you will concentrate all your forces on success ; 
accordingly, those forces will work together for 
success and will place success within reach, though 



82 WHAT IS TRUTH 

of course work and ability must be added before 
results can be secured. The fact that you think you 
are going to succeed will not alone produce success, 
but to think that you are going to succeed is one of 
the essentials. In fact, it is quite indispensable. 

A number of ambitious people at the present 
time who have no ability, and who do not care to 
develop themselves, believe that everything will 
come to them if they simply think success. Suc- 
cess, however, does not come in this way. If you 
wish to succeed you must have ability and you must 
apply it thoroughly as well as wisely. You must 
have confidence in yourself and faith in abtmdance. 
You must press on with all the determination that 
is within you, working constantly in the right states 
of mind, and turn all the forces of thought, talent 
and ability upon the goal in view. 

The way we think affects to an extraordinary 
degree everything we do and everything with which 
we come in contact. But mere thinking is not all 
that is required to make things right, nor will 
things turn from bad to good simply because we 
think they are good. There are methods through 
which all things can be changed, but such methods 
will not be employed simply by our saying or think- 
ing that things are what they are not. If we try 
to make ourselves believe that things are what they 
are not, we not only delude ourselves, but we carry 
on a sort of mesmeric process that will sooner or 



WHAT IS TRUTH 83 

later make invalids of our minds, and so weaken 
all our faculties or talents that we will soon be 
incapable of achieving anything worth while. 

The real student of life takes things as he finds 
them, regardless of what they may be. If things 
are not right he admits it, and goes to work doing 
something to make them right. On the other hand, 
if they are good he is fully able to enjoy them to 
the fullest extent because his appreciation is not 
clouded by self delusions. The strong soul is never 
disturbed or made unhappy when meeting things 
out of place. He does not have to suggest to him- 
self that all is well, when it is not, in order to keep 
himself composed. He knows that he is ready for 
any emergency, that he is equal to any occasion, tha\ 
he has the power to overcome any adversity, and 
that he has the ability to make all things right. He 
is therefore composed in the presence of wrong and 
fully ready to do something definite to make the 
wrong right. Such a mind can see the whole truth 
about the subject of right and wrong. The unde- 
veloped side or the exterior side, with its possibili- 
ties, is recognized and understood. And that 
power within that can develop these possibilities is 
recognized and applied. Thus the imperfect is 
changed into some degree of perfection, and evil is 
transformed into actual good. 

The mind that meets life in this way will con- 
stantly make things better and will develop superi- 



84 WHAT IS TRUTH 

ority in himself through that mode of thinking 
alone. On the other hand, the person who thinks 
that everything is lovely will leave things the way 
they are, improving nothing, not even himself ; thus 
he will continue to remain in the same small self- 
deluded state. He may have health, peace and hap- 
piness in a measure in his little world, but how small 
that little world will be. And nothing in the world 
at large will be better off because he has lived. 

In this connection we must remember that it is 
of the first importance to recognize and learn to 
apply the immense power of thought, but that power 
is not applied simply by thinking that things are as 
we wish them to be. The power of thought works 
through methods; that is, through the living of 
what we think, and through the doing of those 
things that make for growth, quality and worth. 

Another half truth that has deceived thousands 
of well-meaning minds is expressed in the state- 
ment, "If you see evil in others it is because you 
are evil yourself." There is, however, some truth 
back of this idea though this truth would be better 
expressed if we should say, 'There is a tendency 
of the human mind to believe that others have the 
same weaknesses that we have." Though here we 
must remember that this is only a tendency and is 
by no means the rule in every mind. We know that 
if a man is selfish he finds it difficult to think of 



WHAT IS TRUTH 85 

Others as vinselfish; but the cause in his case is 
simply a narrow viewpoint. 

So long as we live in a certain mental attitude 
we are inclined to look at all things through the 
colored glasses of that attitude ; in consequence our 
judgment is biased. However, when the judgment 
is xmbiased and the mind can see all things from all 
points of view, all things will be seen as they are. 
Such a mind can see the wrong in others \yithout 
being wrong himself, because he can see all things 
from all points of view. The higher we ascend in 
the scale the more clearly we can see the mistakes 
of the world and the less mistakes we ourselves will 
make. But we not only see the mistakes, we also 
see the cause and the remedy; and we do not con- 
demn. 

Though we see all wrong we can forgive all 
wrong because we can see the cause of it all, 
remembering the great truth, "To know all is to 
forgive all." Thousands of well meaning idealists 
condemn themselves for seeing evil in others, be- 
lieving that they are in bondage to the same wrongs, 
but this is simply a delusion coming from viewing 
only one side of the truth in the matter. When 
you can see everything, you can see the imperfect 
as well as the perfect, both in others and in your- 
self. It is not wrong to see the mistakes of others, 
but it is wrong to condemn. For it is certainly a 
fact that when we condemn wrong we perpetuate 



86 WHAT IS TRUTH 

wrong, and also tend to produce that same wrong 
in ourselves. 

When you actually believe that you have a cer- 
tain failing you tend to create that failing through 
your own thinking. The mind has the power to 
create any sort of condition in the system and 
employs all deep seated beliefs, ideas or impressions 
as models. Therefore, by believing that you are a 
sinner you make sin the pattern for your thinking, 
and all your thoughts will be created more or less 
in the likeness of sin. When we understand this 
law we understand what a horrible mistake it is to 
think of ourselves as sinners ; and we also discover 
why the majority continue to remain weaklings 
from the cradle to the grave. 

If you wish to eliminate sin, evil and worry from 
your life study metaphysics and psychology. Learn 
to give the creative powers of your life more ideal 
patterns. Learn to create your thoughts after the 
likeness of purity, truth, goodness, strength, whole- 
ness and virtue. You will gradually become more 
and more like those thoughts because, "As a man 
thinketh in his heart so is he.'* 

The belief that we have the same sins or evils 
that we see in others is a belief that is self-contra- 
dictory at every point. For if we see evil in others 
simply because that same evil is in ourselves it is 
the evil in ourselves that we see. If that evil was 
not in ourselves we would not see it in others : but if 



WHAT IS TRUTH 87 

it is only in ourselves it does not exist at all in the 
others. And if this be true, why do others see siii in 
us ? They must according to the theory be just the 
same kind of sinners as we are. The fact that they 
see wrong in us proves that the same wrong exists 
in them, while according to our belief the wrong 
does not exist in them, but exists only in ourselves. 
We must admit, therefore, that the wrong we see is 
not simply in ourselves, but also in others, otherwise 
the belief would not hold good all arotmd. Never- 
theless, if we admit this we contradict the very idea 
upon which the belief is based, proving that the 
whole thing is but an illusion. We may imagine 
that others have certain wrongs that they have not, 
but the fact that we imagine these wrongs existing 
in others does not prove that these wrongs exist at 
all, either in others or in ourselves. For, suppose 
we see in others what is not there; suppose we 
imagpine others having certain failings because we 
have them; suppose some of us at times do this; 
does that prove that the pure mind is unable to see 
what is not pure? It does not. It simply proves 
that when the imagpination is not under control we 
may imagine many things that do not have exist- 
ence anywhere. 

When your eyes are open you will see everything 
that is to be seen, be it black or white. And the 
mind that is pure certainly has the same power to 
see with open eyes, that the mind has that is not 



88 WHAT IS TRUTH 

pure. In fact it is only the pure mind that sees all 
that is good and all that is evil. The impure mind 
is partially blinded. However, when we realize 
that evil in itself is not bad, but simply an unde- 
veloped state, we conclude that it is no more of an 
evil to see evil than it is to see a green apple. 

The green apple is undeveloped. It is not ready 
to be eaten, but it is not on that account bad of 
itself, though it would produce undesirable effects 
if it were eaten in its present condition. The same 
is true of all other things that are undeveloped. 
We think they are evil because we have found it 
painful to use them in their undeveloped state. We 
have not realized that the pain came, not because 
the fruit was bad, but because we tried to eat it 
before it was ripe. 



CHAPTER VII. 

STRIKING ILLUSTRATIONS OF HALF TRUTHS. 

Everyday experience has demonstrated the fact 
again and again that when we look for trouble we 
usually find it. And also that when we look for 
health, peace, harmony and abundance we almost 
invariably gain possession of those things in a 
greater or a lesser measure. This fact has led a 
number to believe that we meet only what we look 
for. But this conclusion is nothing but a half truth. 
We know that we meet a number of things in daily 
life that we never looked for, and many things that 
we even never thought of. Almost daily we come 
in contact with conditions that do not belong to us 
and that have no legitimate place in our world. 
Therefore to say that we .meet only what we look 
for is not to speak the truth. 

Besides, when we live in the belief that we meet 
only what we look for, we condemn ourselves for 
many times as many wrongs as we are responsible 
for. And to condemn ourselves for any wrong is 
to impress that wrong upon the subconscious. 
What is impressed upon the subconscious will bear 
fruit after its kind; therefore when you condemn 

89 



90 WHAT IS TRUTH 

yourself for any wrong you sow a seed in your 
mind that will later on produce more wrongs of 
the same kind. This is a fact of extraordinary 
importance and clearly explains why it seems so 
difficult for most people who want to be right to 
live up to the doctrines they profess. If we wish 
to emancipate ourselves from sickness, trouble and 
discord, want and misforttme we must not sow any 
more seeds of that sort. And to condemn ourselves 
for any wrong is to sow seeds that will produce 
another harvest of those wrongs. 

We are living in a world where many things are 
imperfect. Things in general are in a state of 
becoming and many parts are incomplete, but those 
things are not incomplete because we may be look- 
ing for incompleteness. They are incomplete be- 
cause the world is not finished. And so long as the 
world remains unfinished those things will remain 
incomplete whether we look for incomj^etenessor 
not. So long as we are moving about in the world 
we will meet the imperfect whether we are looking 
for it or not, but those imperfections will not do us 
any harm if we meet them in the proper attitude. 
Green apples will not give you pain so long as diey 
are not taken into the system. Nor will incomplete 
circumstances and conditions disturb you if you do 
not take those conditions into your mind. The 
fact is what things are to do to us will depend 



WHAT IS TRUTH 91 

largely upon what we in the first place proceed to 
do with things. 

When you go on a journey and find an immense 
rock in the way you do not ask yourself what wrong 
you have done in the past that you should meet this 
obstacle. The rock came there through causes that 
are entirely distinct from the causes of your indi- 
vidual existence, and you found that rock because 
you went that way. But why did you go that way ? 
The answer can be fotmd, though this will lead us 
into hair-splitting arguments regarding the nature 
of motives. However, so long as you have errands 
here and there and everjrsvhere you will find obsta- 
cles in the way due to the fact that the world is not 
finished. But instead of becoming discouraged 
about those obstacles you should learn to surmount 
them. 

In this connection we may well ask, that if we 
never looked for obstacles and never expected to 
meet them, could we not go about our work without 
meeting obstacles at all? For is it not true that 
there is a smooth path to every place, and that he 
who seeks such a path will always find it? It is 
true that there is a smooth path to every place in 
the domains of life, or rather the possibilities of 
such a path, but this path is not ready-made. Each 
individual must make it for himself to fit his own 
requirements. 



92 WHAT IS TRUTH 

The whole truth in this connection is that we 
have the power to make every path smooth as we 
go on. We can remove all obstacles and change all 
misfortunes, sorrows and adversities into such 
things as may be more desirable or more advan- 
tageous. The average person is constantly looking 
for smooth paths that are all ready; that is, paths 
that are made smooth by someone else, but such 
paths do not exist. You cannot use the path of 
another and at the same time fulfill the purpose of 
your own life. And though such a path may be 
smooth to him, it might prove the most difficult 
way that you could possibly undertake. 

The reason why so many fail to realize their 
ideals is, because they are looking for ready-made 
advantages, expecting to find them because they 
are constantly looking for them. But here we must 
remember that the only things we can use to 
advantage are the things we ourselves create at 
such times as we have greater things in mind. It is 
true, however, that what we are constantly looking 
for we tend to create in our own minds. And as 
like attracts life, what we create within ourselves 
we shall naturally attract in our external circum- 
stances. 

When you are constantly looking for trouble you 
will be thinking trouble — thus your mind will be 
troubled and confused. You will be constantly 
making mistakes, and mistakes always lead to real 



WHAT IS TRUTH 93 

troubles in the external world. It is therefore sim- 
ple to understand why the person who is looking for 
trouble usually meets trouble. But we all meet 
troubles that we never look for, that we never 
thought of, that we never created ; which fact proves 
that it is not true that we meet only what we look 
for. 

If we wish to be free from trouble, we should 
never look for trouble, never think about trouble, 
never expect trouble and never create trouble. And 
in addition when we meet such troubles as others 
have produced we should refuse to become troubled. 
You do not have to eat green apples. Neither do 
you have to take into your mind troubles that others 
have produced. Be in peace, be in poise, be in harV 
mony, be strong, be your own master and resolve 
to think only peace, regardless of what your sur-' 
rounding conditions may be. And this anyone can 
do just as easily as he can move the muscles of his 
hands or feet. 

When you meet troubles or misfortunes do not 
condemn yourself, whether you are to blame or not. 
Troubles and misfortunes come from mistakes, and 
the more you condemn yourself the more mistakes 
you will make. When in the midst of wrong for- 
give yourself and forgive everybody ; let the wrong 
go ; drop it completely from your mind ; rise out of 
it and resolve to recreate everything for the better. 
You will soon be free. And you will also turn all 



94 WHAT IS TRUTH 

misdirected energies to good account for the fact 
is all things in your life will work together for good / 
when you desire the good, and the good only. 

Every time you forgive yourself you decrease 
your tendency to do wrong. And if the forgiveness 
of yourself is followed by a positive ascension of 
mind into the higher and the better, the tendency to 
do wrong will be removed, and a strong tendency 
to do the right will appear instead. When all the 
tendencies of life have a tendency to do right and 
build the greater you will naturally do the right. 
You will be good not because you try to be good, 
but because it has become your nature to be good. 
And this is the goal we all have in view. 

When you forgive yourself for everything and 
try to surmount everything you steadily develop 
that power that can surmount, transform and over- 
come everything. And ere long the meeting of 
trouble will not be a misfortune to you because you 
can change it instantaneously to something good. 
Although we shall meet many things that we never 
looked for, and encounter many wrongs for which 
we are not responsible, still we are equal to every 
occasion if we continue to be our best And what 
is more, the things we meet in life constitute the 
raw material from which we may build a larger life 
and a greater destiny Whatever you meet, be it 
pleasing or otherwise, remember it is r§l^y material. 
You can take that material and turn it to excellent 



WHAT IS TRUTH 95 

use in the creating of a stronger personality, a more 
brilliant mind and a more beautiful soul. 

Man is an alchemist in his own domain. He can 
change the basest metals of his life into the finest 
gold. He can transform every element within his' 
own existence and make it what he may wish it to 
be. And though it is true that we shall meet many 
things that we do not look for, many adversities 
that we did not create, still we should count it alV 
joy because we can make good use of everything^ 
and turn all things to good account. ' 

The fact that each individual has the power to 
recreate his own world has led many to believe that 
the individual is the creator of everything that 
appears in his world. And therefore it has fre- 
quently been stated as a law that we find in life 
exactly what we put into it. This, however, is 
another half truth, because no person lives to him- 
self, for himself or by himself. Each individual 
finds in his life many things that others have placed 
there both before and after birth, though each 
individual is at liberty to use all these things accord- 
ing to his own aims and desires. 

Every individual act will affect thousands of lives 
for good or otherwise, depending upon the nature 
of the act. Therefore, every individual must learn 
not only how to place the best in all those lives that 
he may aflFect, including his own, but also how to 
use those things that constantly flow into his life 



96 WHAT IS TRUTH 

from other sources. In this connection we meet a 
most important fact, for it is evident that the person 
who believes that we find in life only what we put 
into it will naturally turn his whole attention to the 
art of placing the best in his own life, but will not 
give any attention to the art of using to advantage 
what comes from others. It is therefore evident 
that such a person will soon find himself in a sea 
of problems that he cannot solve — problems that 
have arisen through his coming in contact with the 
hundreds of things that naturally flow into his life 
from the lives of others. 

To give your best to life you must make the very 
best use of everything that you possess ; but in the 
using of things, you constantly come in touch with 
the world in general, and you will have to know 
how to dispose of those things, be they good or 
otherwise, that invariably come into your life 
through this contact. However, if you are unable 
to overcome the adversities that you meet in the 
world, and do not know how to make practical use 
of the good things you find you will be at the mercy 
of your circumstances. You will gain little or noth- 
ing from the opportunities that may surround you 
because you have not learned the art of taking 
advantage of opportunities; and as you do not 
know how to remove obstacles you will be practi- 
cally helpless. In such a condition you can do noth- 
ing, neither with the possibilities that exist within 



WHAT IS TRUTH 97 

you nor with those that exist all about you. You 
can give nothing of value to life. You will sow 
nothing in your own world and you will reap noth- 
ing in your own world. And what conies from 
others you cannot use because you do not know how. 

The whole truth on this great subject is this : We 
find in life what we put into life and what we take 
out of life. What we put into life is the result of 
our own individual talents, powers and possessions. 
And what we take out of life is the result of our 
individual use of that which comes from other 
sources ; that is, from persons, things, circumstances 
and events. Others may place sorrow in your life, 
but it will not be sorrow to you if you understand 
how to make all things work together for greater 
good. The world may place rare opportunities in 
your very path. In fact, the world is constantly 
placing such opportunities in the path of everybody, 
but unless you know how to take advantage of those 
opportunities they will be of no valuo to you. It 
is the same with all other things that may come to 
us from other sources. If they are good their value 
will depend upon how well we use them. If they 
are not good they will not affect us adversely unless 
we permit them to do so. 

Every day we find things in life that we never put 
into life; some good, some npt. The good things 
we often pass by not knowing their value, while 
those things that are not good disturb us because 



98 WHAT IS TRUTH 

we do not know how to turn misdirected energies to 
good account. The universe is a rich gift to man. 
Each individual is heir to all that the race has done, 
not because he has put an equal amount into the 
life of the race, but because he is a member of the 
race, and a necessary part. Each part is necessary 
to the whole. Therefore each individual has the 
privilege to take into his own life everything that 
he can use. And he can do this without depriving 
anybody of anything because there is more than 
enough to go around. However, nothing is of 
value to you unless you can turn it to practical use. 
And what is important, you cannot turn your life to 
practical use imless you can also turn to practical 
use those things that come to you through the lives 
of others. And as others are constantly giving you 
things that are good and things that are not good 
you must understand what to do with all such gifts. 
If we do not use things we will be used by things. 
And if we do not learn the art of using what comes 
from others we shall be so completely controlled by 
circumstances that we shall be unable to apply our 
own personal talents. This will prevent us from 
putting anything into life, and also from taking 
anything out of life. Life to us therefore, under 
such circumstances, will be practically empty. 
Though we have it in our power to change those 
circumstances and gain a life of richness and high 
worth instead. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE SUBCONSCIOUS FACTOR. 

Extensive investigations along metaphysical and 
psychological lines have demonstrated conclusively 
that thought exercises an extraordinary power in 
the life of man. And since this power is found to 
act, not only in every part of the mind, but in every 
atom of the body as well, many have come to believe 
that everything in man, good or otherwise, comes 
from thought, and that man is as he thinks, and 
only as he thinks. Strictly speaking, it is the truth 
that man is as he thinks ; but that abstract thought 
is the only cause of his thinking is not the whole 
truth. A large number of metaphysicians and 
idealists, however, have taken this idea as the whole 
truth, and have in consequence, not only been mis- 
led in every pursuit of the truth, but have failed to 
apply the power of thought in such a way as to 
accomplish what really can be accomplished 
through systematic and scientific thinking. 

The power of thought, however, is very great, 
as it is the powers of mind and thought that deter- 
mine what every part of the body is to do. It is 
conscious thought that causes the voluntary mo- 

99 



100 WHAT IS TRUTH 

tions of the body, and subconscious thought that 
causes the involuntary. Before you can move a 
muscle you must exercise the power of the conscious 
mind, and before your food can be digested the 
subconscious mind must give action to the functions 
of digestion. It is the subconscious mind that con- 
trols the circulation, digestion, assimilation, the 
process of physical reconstruction, all functional 
activities, and all those actions in the body or the 
mind that are not originated by the will. The 
subconscious also controls habits and characteris- 
tics, mental tendencies, the actions of character and 
the scope, capacity and present power of all the 
faculties and talents. But the subconscious mind 
does its work automatically and acts according to 
directions received from the conscious mind. It 
is therefore possible for the conscious mind to 
change gradually the actions of the subconscious, 
or to bring the subconscious back to normal action 
when it is not performing its functions properly. 
This fact proves that man is absolute master of his 
entire personality. Though he must follow the laws 
of life to exercise that mastership. 

When the conscious mind worries, the subcon- 
scious mind is thrown out of harmony and there- 
fore fails to perform its functions properly. That 
part of the subconscious that controls the functions 
of digestion will be misdirected and indigestion will 
follow. That part that controls the reconstruction 



WHAT IS tsutk , iOl 



JO 3 '* 



of the body will through perverse action create 
abnormally looking cells, and the body will begin 
to look old and ugly. Other functions are similarly 
affected, not only by worry, but by every other 
action of the conscious mind. 

The subconscious also effects the chemical 
actions, vital actions, nerve actions and all the 
various forces of the personality. Though the sub- 
conscious never modifies its regular actions until 
impressed to do so by the conscious mind. We may 
therefore state it as a general law that the personal 
man is what the subconscious mind causes him to 
be. But the subconscious mind does only what the 
conscious mind directs it to do. And since the 
conscious mind is controlled by the understanding 
and the will each individual can determine what he 
wants the subconscious mind to do, thus proving 
the mastership of man. 

The statement, "As a man thinketh in his heart 
so is he,'' might be transposed to read, the personal 
man is the result of what the subconscious mind is, 
thinks and does ; because it is the subconscious that 
constitutes the heart of mentality or the vital center 
of the entire mental world. Since the personal 
man is what the subconscious mind causes him to 
be, and since the subconscious does only what it 
is directed to do by the conscious mind, the great 
question before us is, how to use the conscious mind 



102 •" ' ■WttA-t IS TRUTH 



>, «■ k 



in such a way thaf the subconscious will always be 
directed to do what we want to have done 

However, before we proceed further, we must 
remember that after the subconscious has begun to 
do a certain thing it will continue to do that par- 
ticular thing until the conscious mind directs other- 
wise. After you have made the subconscious per- 
form a certain function it will continue to perform 
that function not only in yourself but in your chil- 
dren and children's children for generations and 
generations, or until it is stopped by the actions of 
the conscious mind in any individual. What is 
impressed upon the subconscious in one generation 
will be inherited by the next. Though each indi- 
vidual can remove undesirable hereditary condi- 
tions by changing the action of his own subcon- 
scious mind. 

Through gradual development ages ago, the sub- 
conscious mind was trained to make the digestive 
organs digest when anything entered the system. 
It was trained to cause the eyes to wink every few 
seconds so as to keep the eyeball moist. It was 
trained to cause the saliva to flow whenever any- 
thing of an edible nature entered the mouth. It 
was trained to cause the gastric juice to flow when 
the food entered the stomach. It was trained to 
manufacture a certain amount of these juices m the 
system every day. It was trained to remove the 
old cells in every part of the body every few months 



WHAT IS TRUTH 103 

and cause new cells to be formed in their places. 
In brief, it was trained to cause everything to be 
done in the body that is being done in the body, and 
it will continue to do those things of itself. The 
subconscious will not have to be directed anew to 
do those things. It was properly directed a long 
time ago through the gradual needs of man. It 
does not require a second command. But it can be 
directed to do those things better. And it can be 
trained to do special things both in mind and body 
that have never been done before. 

The subconscious can be trained to do almost 
anything. Therefore there is practically no limit 
to the possibilities that are latent in the human 
system. In the average person, however, the sub- 
conscious fails to control the physical functions as 
perfectly as it might. And it does not in any person 
bring the system up to the most perfect state of 
being and action. The reason is it has not been 
directed along those more perfect lines. 

The conscious mind in the average person per- 
mits the subconscious to be the way it is or the 
way it has been from one generation to another 
The average man therefore is the way the race has 
been thinking because he thinks the same way. His 
life and his actions are the result of the sum total 
of the habits that have been inherited in generations 
past. He can, however, improve upon these habits, 
tendencies or inherited conditions through the 



104 WHAT IS TRUTH 

training of the subconscious mind to do its work 
better than that work has been done in the past. 
That this is possible we know through the fact that 
experimental psychology has proven the suscepti- 
bility of the subconscious to do whatever the con- 
scious mind may direct. 

In the average person the subconscious has been 
trained to create an older and weaker body every 
year, but it can just as easily be trained to create a 
stronger body and a more vigorous body every 
year. The subconscious has also been trained to 
keep the body in a limited state, and to cause those 
faculties actually to lose their power and brilliancy 
after a certain period of life has been reaiched. But 
the subconscious, if properly trained, can just as 
easily cause all the faculties to become stronger 
and more brilliant every year no matter how long 
a person may live. The subconscious can also be 
trained to do things in mind or body that no one 
has done before. We realize, therefore, that the 
individual man not only is in the present what he 
thinks in the present; that is, the sum total of his 
thought habits, but also that he may become in the 
future whatever he may train his subconscious mind 
to think and express. The problem, however, is to 
train the subconscious properly, or in other words 
to make the thought of the heart what we wish it 
to be. 



WHAT IS TRUTH 105 

And it is in our attempt to regulate the thought 
of the heart, which means the same as the thought 
of the subconscious, that a number of half truths 
have arisen in modern systems of belief. In the first 
place, we have believed that it was thought in gen- 
eral that moulds the personality of man. And we 
have tried to change our thought on the surface 
without any regard to the fact that no thought can 
affect the system until it becomes subconscious. In 
the second place we have tried to change thought 
by acting directly upon our own minds without 
taking into consideration the environments in which 
we might be placed at the time. In the third place 
we have tried to master mind and thought by simply 
using will force, paying no attention to the law 
through which the will must act in order to demon- 
strate and exercise this larger self-control. 

Concerning the first mistake nothing further need 
be stated. The preceding pages have made the fact 
clear that the thought of the heart is synonymous 
with the mental actions of the subconscious mind, 
and that no change can be brought about in the 
mind or the body until the desired change in the 
actions of the subconscious has been produced. 
And in this connection it is well to state that every 
thought, desire or action of the conscious mind will, 
if deeply felt, become subconscious. 

Another fact, of equal importance is that the per- 
sonal man is not the result simply of what he thinks. 



106 WHAT IS TRUTH 

but of that thought that is placed in action. And 
by action in this connection we mean all action in 
the human system, whether that action be mental, 
chemical, vital, functional or muscular. Also that 
no thought, desire or will can produce action at any 
time unless it is made subconscious. We realize 
that every thought that is to affect the system must 
be created with the tendency to produce action, and 
must be deeply impressed upon the subconscious 
mind. 

To produce a change in any part of mind or 
body the conscious mind must first, create that 
thought that has the power to produce the necessary 
change. Second, the conscious mind must will to 
apply that thought in actual tangible action. And 
third, that thought must be impressed upon the 
subconscious, or rather, the subconscious must be 
directed to carry that thought into positive action.' 
Why the majority of idealists have so frequently 
failed to demonstrate long sought for changes in 
their minds or personalities after they have fully 
changed their mode of thinking is therefore evident. 
They have followed a half truth and have done 
their work largely for nought. In other words, 
they have not removed inherited subconscious be- 
liefs and established actual truth in their places. 

A group of half truths that is very detrimental 
has come from the belief that we can change our 
thought by simply willing to change our minds; 



WHAT IS TRUTH 107 

and also that we can change our thought without 
changing our thinking. But here we must remem- 
ber that thought, and thought forces, as well as 
mental images and ideas, invariably come from 
thinking. Therefore we must change our thinking 
before we can change our habits of thought or our 
subconscious thought. 

To think, is to actually exercise the mind in form- 
ing definite conceptions about something; that is, 
to try to understand that about which we may be 
thinking. To change our thinking it is therefore 
necessary to change our conceptions of those things 
with which we may come in daily contact. That is, 
we must not only change our ideas about ourselves 
and about certain abstract principles, but we must 
change our minds about everything in our environ- 
ment. We must try to gain a higher viewpoint in 
our relation to all things, thereby gaining a better 
conception and a truer understanding of all things. 
In brief, we must remove the imperfect beliefs of 
the subconscious, because it is the beliefs of the sub- 
conscious, that cause man to be what he is, and 
establish a higher understanding of truth along all 
lines in the place of those beliefs. 

Many metaphysicians and students of idealism 
define environment as a mere reflection of the mind 
of the individual. Therefore, according to their 
philosophy, environment will change immediately 
the individual himself changes. But that this is a 



108 WHAT IS TRUTH 

half truth is easily proven ; and it is a belief that has 
been most misleading. To change himself man 
must change his thought. To change his thought 
he must change his thinking. And to change his 
thinking he must change his conception of every- 
thing with which he may come in contact. But if 
he thinks that his environment is simply a reflection 
of his own thought, his conception of his environ- 
ment will constitute zero in his mental world. In 
fact, that conception will involve nothing, and a 
mental conception that has nothing in it is simply 
a state of ignorance. 

He therefore knows nothing definite about the 
nature of his environment, and the man who does 
not understand his environment will naturally 
accept the conclusions of his senses, which are 
always more or less imperfect. Accordingly, his 
thought concerning his environment will be wrong 
thought, or at any rate incomplete. And it is not 
possible to improve something that we do not clearly 
understand. 

If a man's environment is the reflection of his 
own mind then environment does not exist as a 
separate thing. According to such philosophy it 
becomes impossible to think of environment 
because you can form mental conceptions only of 
those things that have individual existence. This 
proves conclusively that the man who thinks of his 
environment as a mere reflection of his own mind 



WHAT IS TRUTH 109 

cannot possibly know anjrthing about his environ- 
ment. And we may repeat that we cannot improve 
upon that which we do not clearly understand. 

However, whatever we may see, or hear or be- 
lieve will impress the mind. Such impressions will 
cause the mind to form conceptions about those 
external things from which the impressions come. 
From these conceptions will come ideas and 
thoughts, many of which will affect the personality 
in one or more places. Therefore the man who 
does not try to understand the real nature of those 
things that exist about him will absorb indiscrim- 
inately such views as are suggested by the senses. 
In consequence he will make no intelligent selection 
of his ideas, and his thinking will be controlled 
largely by such ideas as are suggested by his envi- 
ronment 

And no man can control himself or improve him- 
self whose thinking is controlled by environment. 
But to say that the visible universe is unreal, or 
that tangible things are mere illusions, and that 
material substance has no existence, is to bring 
about the same effect. The man that has such 
views will be controlled both by environment and 
by such persons as he may accept as authority. 

To change your own life and think what you want 
to think you must form a definite mental conception 
about everything with which you may come in con- 
tact. And this conception must be as high as your 



no WHAT IS TRUTH 

mind can possibly reach. In fact, it must be com- 
posed of a higher and finer understanding of actual 
truth. You are as you think in the subconscious; 
therefore to change yourself you must change your 
subconscious thought. However, you change your 
thought not by willing to change your mind, but 
by changing your mind about all things. You make 
the proper use of the will, not when you try to force 
the mind to change, but when you try to direct the 
mind toward higher and higher points of view. 

When you begin to look at all things from the 
higher point of view all your thoughts will change 
of themselves. Then if you give this change of 
thought action in practical life, and direct the sub- 
conscious to act with those new ideas you will cause 
your entire personality to change to correspond. 
And every such change will be a decided improve- 
ment, because you have eliminated in a measure the 
imperfect or lesser beliefs of the subconscious, and 
placed in their stead a larger measure of actual 
truth. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE REAL AND THE UNREAL. 

All systems of thought have searched for the 
causes of good and evil, and several phases of 
thought have developed the belief that "It is all in 
yourself.'' But to reduce this belief to its last analy- 
sis is to come to the conclusion that there is no 
power in the universe outside of the mind of the 
individual, and therefore nothing has existence 
except the mind of man. The fact is, however, that 
every force and element in the universe does have 
a power of its own, but what that power has to do 
with the individual will depend directly upon how 
he relates himself to that power. 

Man does not possess the only power, but he 
does possess the power to determine how all other 
powers are to be used. Therefore, final results will 
depend upon him. What is to be in his own world 
lies entirely with him. But he cannot use properly 
those powers that exist about him so long as he 
believes that those powers have no existence. We 
cannot study and understand that which we believe 
to be unreal. 

Ill 



112 WHAT IS TRUTH 

To illustrate a leading phase of this idea we will 
say that you dislike decayed apples, which is natu- 
ral. But the cause of that dislike is not wholly in 
your own taste. The cause lies partially in the 
nature of the apple, which is no longer wholesome. 
You can prevent the disagreeable sensation of such 
a food, however, if you avoid it. But to continue 
to eat that apple, believing that the dislike is all in 
yourself, will not remove the disagreeable sensa- 
tion. It may seem to be absent for a while, but 
that seeming absence will be due to the deadening 
of your sense of taste caused by strong suggestion. 
The deadening effect of suggestion, however, is 
neither permanent nor desirable, therefore in the 
course of time you will have to reap all the conse- 
quences that naturally follow the practice of eating 
such apples. 

The same illustration will hold good with respect 
to every element and force in existence. You can- 
not control or determine the effect of things upon 
yourself by trying to think that they have no exist- 
ence, but rather by learning how to use those 
things. True, it is possible to imagine that certain 
things are disagreeable when they are not, but that 
is hysteria, which, of course, is all in yourself. 
Hysteria, however, is an abnormal condition and 
we cannot understand the normal through the study 
of experiences that come from the abnormal. 



WHAT IS TRUTH 113 

The proper course to pursue is not to deny the 
existence of things, but to try to understand more 
perfectly the real existence of things. Through 
this understanding we shall learn how to use 
things. And when we can use things properly we 
have it in our power to produce what results we 
may desire. 

The idea that all is good is, from a certain point 
of view, exact truth, but as usually interpreted it 
is not the whole truth. To state that all that is real 
is good would be the whole truth. But to state that 
all temporal conditions as well are good would not 
be the truth. A disagreeable condition is not good, 
but the original power producing that condition is 
good and produces evil only when misdirected. 
Many idealists when meeting wrongs or adversity 
declare indifferently that all is good, and in conse- 
quence make no efforts to produce a change. They 
may in this way avoid evil consequences for a short 
time, but they do so by mentally running away, so 
to speak, from trouble. The troubles, however, 
that we try to run away from always follow sooner 
or later, and never fail to come upon us again in 
the course of time. 

The habit of saying that all is good, no matter 
what may happen, will invariably lead to extreme 
mental blindness, and the judgment will become so 
obtuse that nothine is seen or understood any more 
as it really is. This habit therefore must be strictly 



114 WHAT IS TRUTH 

avoided by all whose object is to find the whole 
truth. 

The whole truth in this connection is, that every- 
thing is produced by a power that is good in itself. 
It is possible, however, to misdirect anything that 
may proceed from that power, and a lack of knowl- 
edge on the part of man may cause these misdirec- 
tions ; therefore it is the understanding in man that 
alone can prevent them or correct them after they 
have been made. 

To gain this understanding the mind should 
establish itself in the consciousness of that state of 
being where the good is realized as absolute good; 
and from that attitude deal with the conviction that 
the power back of things is good, and also that 
things can be changed to become exactly like that 
power. In other words, the mind should act from 
the viewpoint of the consciousness of the real which 
is always good, and thereby gradually eliminate 
those adverse condition? that manifest as evil or 
unrealities. 

The discovery that the source of everything that 
is expressed through the personality exists poten- 
tially in the within has led many to believe that if 
the within were developed the without would take 
care of itself. But we must remember that the 
objective mind must be highly cultivated before the 
superior qualities of the subjective mind can find 
complete expression. To illustrate, a good musi- 



WHAT IS TRUTH 115 

cian needs a good instrument. Though all things 
come from the within it is necessary to apply those 
things upon the without in such a way that the 
superior quaHties of the interior life produce the 
same superiority in the external life. 

Here we must remember that there is a vast 
difference between being conscious of the ideal and 
making that ideal real. In like manner there is a 
difference between dreaming and acting, between 
visions and tangible results. The visions are neces- 
sary, but they must be carried out. They will not 
of themselves become tangible realities. And that 
is something that can be brought about only 
through the efforts of the objective mind. To 
impress the subconscious with a certain idea is to 
cause a corresponding expression to come forth, 
but that expression must be taken up and used. 
The subconscious expression brings out the mate- 
rial, but the objective mind must go to work and 
use that material if results are to be gained. 

Many idealists believe that they can think any- 
thing, do anything, eat anything or live in any 
way they like because all is good ; therefore nothing 
can do them any harm. And the idea would be true 
if we were livmg absolutely in the real, or what 
may be termed the ultimate. But the human race 
has not as yet reached that stage. We are gradu- 
ally approaching the absolutely real wherein there 
is absolute good ; but we have not entered that state, 



116 WHAT IS TRUTH 

therefore we must deal with things as they are in 
our present state of development. 

When you believe that you can do anything at 
any time you will violate natural law at almost 
every turn. But laws were not made to be violated. 
They are made to lead us into the new, the higher 
and the better; therefore they must be followed in 
every form and manner if we have greater things 
in view. Whenever you violate law there will be 
harm, injury and suffering whether you think that 
all is good or not. But when you live so completely 
in the understanding of the real and the true that 
you discern the purpose of all law you will never 
violate any law. You will have no desire to do as 
you please. Your whole desire will be to conform 
with the law of your life because you know that 
every phase of that law is a path to greater things. 

At the present time you frequently hear the state- 
ment, "I am able to do anything because I am one 
with the Infinite.'' But this is not the truth if 
applied to the present moment. We cannot do any- 
thing at the present moment even though it is true 
that we are one with the Supreme, because there 
are only certain things for which this present state 
of existence is adapted. And to try to go outside 
of that adaptation would be to violate the law of 
life. We can do today only what we are ready for 
today, and no more. The majority, however, do 



WHAT IS TRUTH 117 

not do what they are ready for. There are only a 
few that are always at their best. 

No one can be his best unless he is in harmony 
with the Infinite and works in conscious unity with 
Supreme Power. And he who is his best in this 
sense can do anything that may be necessary to 
make the present moment complete. But he cannot 
do in the present that which belongs to some future 
moment. There are too many, however, who are 
living almost exclusively for the future, doing very 
little to make the present complete. For that rea- 
son they are never their best in the present, and 
fail to promote a natural and orderly advancement 
of existence. 

In this connection it is highly important to under- 
stand that when we make the sweeping statement 
that we can do anything now, we tend to scatter 
thought and consciousness over such a wide area 
of future possibilities that the present moment will 
receive but a fraction of the power that we have the 
ability to apply now. It is a great truth, however, 
that he who lives and thinks and works in harmony 
with the Supreme can do ever)rthing now that is 
necessary to make the present moment full and 
complete. 

Another mistaken idea that has arisen among 
minds who do not fully understand the relation of 
the real to the unreal, is that the experiences of the 
senses are illusions. From certain points of view. 



118 WHAT IS TRUTH 

however, this idea seems plausible. But the plausi- 
ble is not always true. To state that the senses 
always mislead, is to admit that we can know noth- 
ing and convey nothing, because we have used our 
senses in every effort that is made to learn facts or 
convey facts to others. In brief, we have used our 
senses to learn that the senses do not exist, or that 
the experiences of the senses are illusions. But if 
all the experiences of the senses are illusions, then 
even this extraordinary knowledge would also be 
an illusion. To make the statement therefore that 
all experiences or that most of the experiences of 
the senses are illusions, is to contradict the state- 
ment itself absolutely. 

The person who depends upon the senses to 
receive information and who depends upon the 
senses of others to have that information conveyed, 
must not state that the senses always mislead, for 
according to that very theory the information he 
is trying to convey will be nothing but a bundle of 
misleading statements. You may think that you 
have found the result of pure reason, that reason 
that knows without using the senses, but to convey 
your discovery to others they must employ their 
senses, and if the senses always mislead it would 
be impossible for you to teach pure reason to others. 

If the senses are not reliable no one can teach 
anybody anything. And if this were true we would 
all be in perpetual darkness and could neither give 



WHAT IS TRUTH 119 

nor receive information of any kind. Our effort, 
therefore, to lead each other out of the behefs of 
sense experience would involve nothing but mental 
chaos. But the fact that we can talk coherently 
about the senses proves that senses are not always 
unreliable. In the world of illusion the same causes 
never produce the same effects, but in the world 
of sense the same causes under the same conditions 
invariably produce the same effects; which fact 
proves that it is not the senses that are unreliable, 
but that our use of the senses sometimes is imper- 
fect. The whole truth is that the senses convey 
wrong information only when reason accepts cer- 
tain conclusions as final before all the viewpoints 
have been taken. 

To state along this same line that there is no 
intelligence in matter, is to declare that there is no 
intelligence in the laws of matter. But a law in 
order to be a law must express a certain phase of 
intelligence. If there were no intelligent expres- 
sion in matter your body would be vapor one 
moment and possibly a soap bubble the next; your 
clothes would be a solid one day and a liquid the 
next; and what might nourish the system at one 
meal might decompose or consume the system at 
another meal. If there were no intelligent expres- 
sion in matter the entire physical universe would 
be in perpetual chaos, and none of us could stay 
long enough in any one state of existence, to convey 



120 WHAT IS TRUTH 

to each other the precious information that we did 
not exist. The very fact, therefore, that the books 
that claim to teach that matter has neither intelli- 
gence nor existence — the very fact that those books 
continue to exist in the same form proves that mat- 
ter does exist and that the laws of matter do have 
intelligence. 

The whole truth in this connection is that the 
entire universe is teeming with intelligence. Every 
physical atom is a center of intellectual activity. 
And every person who enters into harmony with \ 
this sea of intelligence will develop the most bril- 
liant mentality and comprehend the greatest wisdom 
and the highest truth. 

That spirit is real and matter unreal is another 
belief that the perfect understanding of truth will 
eliminate completely. Both are real, but we cannot 
discern the reality of either unless we view them 
on their own planes of existence. The mind that 
lives solely in physical consciousness cannot under- 
stand those elements and forces and states of being 
that are above physical consciousness. But every 
person can develop the consciousness that does 
understand what is above and beyond mere things. 

To deny the reality of matter is to place one's self 
in that state of mind where it becomes impossible 
to understand the purpose of this present state of 
existence. However, we are here for a purpose, 
and if we do not fulfill that purpose now our present 



WHAT IS TRUTH 121 

life will be for nought. But no one can go on 
toward the greater until he has finished the lesser. 
It is necessary, therefore, to understand this tangi- 
ble world if we wish to promote the purpose and 
the progress of life ; but we cannot understand that 
which we believe to be unreal. 

In like manner it is impossible to use and apply 
properly those powers that exist in nature so long 
as we affirm that there is neither power nor sensa- 
tion in nature. If we continue in this belief we will 
pass through this sphere of existence in a sort of 
materialistic dream life, and our happiness will be 
limited, or it may seem to be an ecstacy resulting 
from an overwrought imagination. We may live 
in part because we understand in part, and the 
reason why we understand only in part is because 
we refused to recognize the whole. This method 
of living may give health and may satisfy some 
minds for a while, but it does not produce the 
greater, the larger and the richer life. And no 
one can really live who does not eternally press on 
toward higher, better and greater things. 



CHAPTER X. 

IN REALITY EVERYTHING IS GOOD. 

When all things are reduced to their last analysis 
they culminate in what may be termed fundamental 
reality. And this reality is found to be good m 
every sense of the term. There is no evil in the 
fundamental state of things. And as the funda- 
mental state is the origin of all expression there 
can, strictly speaking, be no evil in any form of 
expression. The effect cannot be evil in any of its 
phases if the cause be absolutely good. That is, 
the effect cannot be evil but it may contain condi- 
tions which can have an evil effect upon man. In 
other words, the expression of things must neces- 
sarily be good since the fundamental reality from 
which all things proceed is good But this expres- 
sion may contain states or conditions that are not 
real, and that which is not real is not good, which 
means it has no actual existence. 

Fundamental reality is complete in its funda- 
mental state, but the expression of reality in any 
of its stages is never absolutely complete. All 
expression proceeds from the one state of complete- 
ness, and every expression is on the way to another 

122 



WHAT IS TRUTH 123 

state of completeness, but while on the way it is 
not absolutely complete. That which is being 
expressed is good in itself because it is real, and all 
that is real is good. But the expression is not real 
all the way through; that is, it is not filled to com- 
pleteness all the way through. The expression 
itself does not have what may be termed fullness. 
In other words, it does not contain all of the real 
that it can contain. An expression is fundamental 
fullness in a state of expansion, and therefore can- 
tains many vacuums, so to speak, or many empty 
states which are states of incompleteness. 

While any state of being is filled with all the 
reality it can possibly contain it does not contain 
vacuums. It is absolutely full and complete in that 
particular state, but when that state begins to 
express itself it begins to expand. It seeks a larger 
sphere of existence, and until it has developed itself 
sufficiently to fill that larger state, its fullness will 
not be complete ; that is, it will contain many empty 
states; and we shall find in all our study that this 
condition of emptiness that appears in every state 
of development, is the one cause of all such condi- 
tions as are called evil or undesirable. 

Every expression contains undeveloped states, 
and these states are caused by the fact that every 
expression is in a state of development. To develop 
the capacity to fill a larger sphere of existence is 
the purpose of every expression and everything has 



124 WHAT IS TRUTH 

this purpose. It is the natural tendency of the 
entire universe to advance. Therefore all reality 
either is in expression at any particular moment in 
time, or is about to seek that expression. This 
being true it is evident that there are undeveloped 
states, or states of incompleteness, in every field of 
action whatever the plane of that action may be. 

Completeness exists only where action has not 
begun a new movement of expansion, or when that 
action has been finished, and thereby causes the 
new movement to have filled completely a new 
sphere of development. But every finished action 
will shortly be followed by another and a larger 
action, so that what we call completeness never con- 
tinues for any length of time anywhere. Whenever 
a greater state of completeness has been reached 
preparations are made by thfc law of eternjtX j)rQg;7 
ress, which acts everywhere, for the reaching of a 
still greater state, and this is natural. 

All forms of life are seeking greater expression. 
They are created for that purpose, and it is to their 
interest to promote that purpose. But every expres- 
sion, being in a state of development, must neces- 
sarily contain states of incompleteness, and these 
states have been called evil because they are the 
direct or indirect causes of all those conditions that 
are not agreeable in the experience of man. How- 
ever, these very states of incompleteness are neces- 
sary to continuous development. 



WHAT IS TRUTH 125 

There could be no advancement whatever if com- 
pleteness were permanent everywhere; but since 
it is the purpose of all life to advance, these states 
of incompleteness are a necessary part of the great 
universal plan. These states therefore cannot, 
strictly speaking, be called evil. In fact, they are 
in a certain sense good, for without them we could 
not reach the greater good nor realize any change 
whatever. The truth is the entire universe would 
be at a standstill or absolutely dead if these states 
of incompleteness were eliminated, the reason being 
that all forms of development must have state of 
incompleteness through which and in which to 
develop. No development can take place where 
everything is already complete. 

This being true, these states ought not to produce 
anything in the life of man that is not agreeable. 
In other words, that which is necessary to his 
greater happiness should not produce unhappiness 
at any time ; and that which is necessary to his real- 
ization of the greater good should not produce such 
conditions as do not appear to be good. From this 
conclusion we judge that there must be a definite 
reason why undesirable conditions come at all since 
the cause of those conditions is so highly beneficial. 
And we also judge that man himself must be respon- 
sible. In brief, we naturally conclude that evil 
conditions do not come directly from states of in- 



126 WHAT IS TRUTH 

completeness, but from man's ignorance of how to 
relate himself to those states. 

It has been demonstrated conclusively that an 
incomplete state does not produce pain in its orig- 
inal condition of completeness, but that the pain 
comes when the state of incompleteness is unneces- 
sarily prolonged. To avoid pain, therefore, all that 
is necessary is to proceed at once to develop every 
state of incompleteness the very moment that state 
appears in consciousness. From this fact we realize 
that so long as every state of incompleteness is con- 
stantly advancing toward a higher degree of com- 
pleteness it does not produce pain nor produce any 
undesirable condition whatever. 

The fact is that the feeling of pain indicates that 
something is being retarded in its progress, and 
that we are holding ourselves back from something 
good that is in store. Pain therefore is a good 
friend and is in itself good. It comes with good 
intentions and aims to prompt us on toward greater 
good. It is a friend, however, that we would rather 
dispense with, and we can. It is possible for the 
purpose of pain to be carried out in every sense of 
the term and in every phase of life without anyone 
ever feeling pain. 

The same is true concerning undesirable condi- 
tions in general. They simply indicate that some- 
thing in the human system is being retarded in its 
progress. They are therefore good because they 



WHAT IS TRUTH 127 

prompt us onward toward the greater good, the 
greater life and the greater joy. When we accept 
this view of things we shall not think of anything 
as evil. We shall think of all states of incomplete- 
ness as good because they are necessary to progress 
and actually are expressions of fundamental reality 
moving toward higher realizations of absolute real- 
ity. And in a certain sense all unpleasant condi- 
tions that come from retarding the progress of these 
states of incompleteness are also good because they 
tend to produce progress where progress has been 
retarded. 

The purpose of pain is not only to prevent greater 
pain, but to teach man how to eliminate all pain. 
The same is true of all conditions called evil. They 
tend not only to prevent greater evils, but also tend 
to arouse in man the desire to remove all evil in 
every shape and form. It is therefore scientific to 
state that everything is good because everything, 
that is at all, is an expression of fundamental* 
reality, and fundamental reality is absolutely good. 

When man begins to view all things in the light 
of this understanding he will realize the fact that 
all pain, all suffering, and all undesirable experi- 
ences come from retarded progress, and that he will 
need pain so long as he continues to retard his 
progress. But when he no longer retards his prog- 
ress at any time he will no longer need pain to 
prompt him onward. He will live every moment 



128 WHAT IS TRUTH 

for continuous acivancement. And the more he 
lives in this manner the more desirable will his life 
become because he will constantly be rising toward 
a more perfect realization of a greater good and a 
higher truth. 



CHAPTER XL 

CAUSING THE BEST TO HAPPEN. 

A certain phase of modern optimism has fallen 
into the habit of saying that everything is for the 
best. Whatever comes or not, according to this 
idea, be it good or otherwise, the mind is consoled 
with the belief that it is all for the best. And 
although there is a pleasing side to this belief still 
the final result of it is not desirable. To live in the 
belief that anything is for the best is to get into the 
habit of becoming content with anything; and to 
become content with anything is to cease practically 
all efforts toward the attainment of the higher and 
the greater. Such an attitude will also cause the 
mind to admit everything that may enter its world, 
no matter how inferior it may be. 

A great many people, however, think that if we 
live in the convictions that all is for the best, all 
things will work themselves out for the best, and 
there is some truth in this. But things will not 
work themselves out for the best unless we cause 
them to do their best; and before things will do 
their best we must do our best. But the doing of 
one's best requires more than a mere statement 

129 



130 WHAT IS TRUTH 

that all is for the best. No person is doing 
his best unless he is giving his entire life to the 
very highest goal that he can possibly imagine. 
And no person can cause things to do their best 
unless his desire for the best is so immensely strong 
that all things are drawn into the irresistible life 
current of that desire. The mere passive belief 
about all being for the best is powerless in causing 
things to work for the best. And besides, to think 
that all is now for the best is to blind the mind so 
that it cannot see the better. 

The rising mind sees greater things in the upper 
regions of the mental world, and must therefore 
realize that things as they are in the present are not 
the best, for they all can even now be made much 
better. The ideals of the present should be realized 
in the present; at least we should grow constantly 
in that realization ; but the fact that we have failed 
to get what we want does not prove that it is best 
for us not to have it. It usually proves that we are 
incompetent, or that we have been negligent and 
indifferent, or that we have permitted ourselves to 
drift with the uncertainties of things. Had we lived 
more wisely in the past and taken advantage of the 
opportunities that the past presented, we should not 
have to wait now for opportunities to do now, what 
we think we should have the privilege to do. It is 
not for the best that any good thing should be 
deferred if we are ready to appreciate it in the 



WHAT IS TRUTH 131 

present. It is not for the best that anyone who 
desires the greater should have to wait for oppor- 
tunities to attain the greater. If he has to wait, 
his own past negligence is usually to blame. How- 
ever, there must be no regrets. To weep over past 
failures is to waste those very energies that are 
required in the promotion of our present attain- 
ments. 

If there is something that you want to do now do 
not think that it is for the best that circumstances 
are against you now. Instead, live in the faith that 
those circumstances must change, that it is for the 
best that they should change, and that you have the 
power to begin that change now. Circumstances 
did not make themselves. You have either made 
them yourself or you have accepted them ready 
made from someone else. But what you have made 
you can remake, and what you have accepted you 
can reject. Therefore, whatever may be the cause 
of your present circumstances you have the power 
to change those circumstances according to your 
own desire and need. 

Circumstances, conditions and things have no 
particular object in view. Their function is to 
serve in the promotion of the objects that man may 
have in view. But when man has no definite object 
in view his circumstances will drift here and there 
as they are influenced by the circumstances of other 
and stronger minds. The man that has no definite 



132 WHAT IS TRUTH 

purpose in life will invariably drift with the aimless- 
ness of the conditions in which he may be placed. 
If he does not control things he will drift with 
things, and he never controls things unless his 
desire to reach a certain goal is so strong that all 
things will be drawn into the immense force of that 
desire. 

Here is the secret of controlling circumstances, 
conditions and things. Do not exercise any domi- 
neering force over things, but make the force of 
your own purpose so immensely strong that all 
things in your world will come and act in harmony 
with that purpose. The law is that every circum- 
stance will conform itself to the strongest force that 
may pass through that circumstance. And the cir- 
cumstance in question will give up all its power to 
work for the same purpose for which this strongest 
force is working. Therefore all things in your 
world will work for you when you make the force 
of your purpose in life a great deal stronger than 
any other force that may exist in your world. And 
this you can easily do by turning all the energies 
of your being into your one leading purpose. 

Through this practice you will cause yourself to 
be your best now, and you will give your best to 
what you may be doing now. And when you are 
your best and do your best now all things will hap- 
pen for the best in your life at present. The best 
does not happen to you in the present unless you are 



WHAT IS TRUTH 133 

your best. And you are your best only when the 
best in your nature is working for the best that you 
can find in your world. 

When in the presence of confused circumstances 
do not become passive or inactive and do not let 
things take their natural course. Things can do 
nothing of value unless they are guided. There- 
fore to let them work themselves out is to let them 
scatter and work themselves into nothingness. The 
result will be, not the best that could come to you, 
but rather the worst. When in a place where you 
do not know where to turn do not give up and let 
matters take their course in the hope that every- 
thing will turn out all right. It will not turn out 
all right unless you take matters into your own 
hands and lead them into the right. At such times 
be more determined than ever before ; picture your 
higher goal more distinctly and have more faith 
than you ever had. Be your best and resolve to 
turn all things to the very best account. Thus the 
best will happen because you have made the best 
happen. 

When you fail to get what you wanted never say 
that it must be best for you not to have it. You 
have a right to have what you want, and it is for 
the best that you should get it when you want it. 
Your failure to get it comes because you fail to be 
all that you could be and do all that you could do. 
So long as you continue to be the lesser, or be less 



134 WHAT IS TRUTH 

than you can be, you will get the lesser, and the 
lesser is not best, for it could be better. 

The belief that what is to be will be is also thor- 
oughly wrong. Only that will be in the life of mant 
that he himself will cause to be. And man has 
the power not only to change causes but to create 
new and greater causes. True, he must follow the 
laws of life, but the capacities of those laws have no 
limit. Therefore there can be no end to the possi- 
bilities in him who applies those laws according to 
their largest possibility and measure. 

There is no fixed time for life or death, and no 
events are pre-ordained. Every life can be pro- 
longed. Every event could have been different. 
And everything that happens to man could have 
added far more to his life than it does. From this 
fact we judge that few things happen for the best 
because man himself is seldom at his best. Nearly 
everything could have been better; but if they are 
not now what they might be, if we had been what 
we could be, the wisest course is to turn them to 
the very best account, and in the future maintain 
the very highest standard that the mind can possi- 
bly construct. When every person takes his life 
into his own hands and lives that life so perfectly 
that the very best that can be done now is being 
done now, ever5rthing will happen for the best. And 
what is more, such a life will advance perpetually 
into the better. 



WHAT IS TRUTH 135 

To cause the best to happen at all times, the secret 
is to awaken the superior power within and to place 
the entire mind absolutely in the hands of that 
power. After this has been done all things will 
work together for good, the very best must posi- 
tively come to pass and every seeming disappoint- 
ment will be an open door to something better. 
That better, however, will not be realized if we per- 
mit ourselves to be disappointed, because every 
depressed feeling takes the mind down away from 
the hands of superior power and will not be in a 
position therefore to appropriate those better things 
that this superior power is about to produce. 

When the new way of living has been entered into 
and all of the energies of being have been directed 
to work together for the promotion of some great 
purpose, disappointments will hardly appear any 
more. But should they appear the fact must be 
faced with the conviction that our failure to realize 
what we try to secure, indicates positively that 
something of far greater worth is to be secured 
shortly instead. When this conviction is invariably 
adhered to, regardless of what appearances may 
indicate, the law will never fail to bring the greater 
good. However, to secure positive and continuous 
results from this law it is necessary to eliminate 
everything in life that is not in perfect accord with 
the real science of life. Those tendencies that 
retard progress must not be permitted to live and 



136 WHAT IS TRUTH 

act after we have resolved to do that only which 
can produce the best The mind must live on the 
heights and the soul must live for that life that is 
revealed while the mind is on the heights. There 
must be no compromise with half truths or beliefs 
that are untrue, whatever experience may think. 
Form your purpose clearly, definitely, and posi- 
tively. Aim at the highest goal in view. Desire 
the very best and make that desire so immensely 
strong that all things in your life will be drawn 
irresistibly into the current of that desire. All 
things will thereby work for the best, and the best 
will always come to pass. 



CHAPTER XIL 

THE TRUTH ABOUT RIGHT AND WRONG. 

Everything that promotes the wfilfaxe, thSL.adr 
va ncement and the g- r^wth of the indiYidual is rig hts 
And everything that interferes with the welfare, 
the advancement and the growth of the individual 
is wrong. This is the only natural standard by 
which we can judge what is right and what is 
wrong. It is therefore the true standard, being 
based upon the nature, the principle and the pur- 
pose of life itself. 

When we analyze life we find that all life is pro- 
gressive. To live is to move forward, because the 
real living principle has but one ruling tendency, 
and that is the tendency to press on toward the 
higher, the larger and the greater. 

We also find that all the laws of life are con- 
structive. They are all created for the purpose of 
construction; therefore to be in harmony with the 
laws of life man must live, think and act construc- 
tively. When man does something that is not con- 
structive he violates the laws of life, and this is 
wrong because the inherent purpose of life is inter- 
fered with. 

137 



138 WHAT IS TRUTH 

Here we may ask why some of the laws of life 
appear to be destructive. We shall find upon closer 
examination that all such laws simply promote the 
process of reconstruction. And the lesser some- 
times has to be removed or seemingly destroyed in 
order that the greater may be built up. Realizing 
this, we shall find that all the laws of life are, to all 
nature and purposes, purely constructive. 

The average system of ethics defin es wrong as 
violation of law, but as such systems do not find 
the'^inherent purpose of law their philosophies of 
conduct are always complex and frequently mis- 
leading. When we understand that the inherent 
purpose of every law is to build or promote advance- 
ment and progress we realize that the violation of 
the law consists simply in refusing to move for- 
ward; in consequence every act, physical or men- 
tal that in any way retards or prevents the steady 
growth of the individual is a wrong act. And con- 
versely no act is wrong unless it retards or prevents 
the growth of the individual. Therefore if we wish 
to avoid that wrong and be absolutely right in every 
respect, we must determine which acts of mind or 
body are natural and constructive, and which ones 
are not. This, however, can be determined by a 
very simple method; that is, by a study of mental 

• 

tendencies; and all tendencies spring from mental 
attitudes. 



WHAT IS TRUTH 139 

A mental tendency is the mind in definite concen- 
trated motion ; that is, the mind moving in a certain 
direction with a special object in view, although this 
object may be unconscious just as frequently as it 
is conscious. There are a number of mental ten- 
dencies that are in constant action without our 
being aware of their existence. So that in such 
cases, the objects in view have become subconscious 
though they were in the beginning wholly objective 
or conscious. 

A mental attitude may be defined as the image of 
the mind facing that toward which it may wish to 
move. And here we must realize the great fact 
that the way we face life determines our attitude 
toward life; and also the way we face things or 
look upon things determines our attitude toward 
things. A mental attitude is the placing of the 
mind in a position ready to move, and the way the 
mind is placed determines where it is going to move. 
When a mental attitude begins to move it becomes 
a tendency. And when the tendency reaches its 
climax it becomes an act. Therefore to know pre- 
cisely the nature and inevitable result of the act we 
must know the exact position of the mental attitude 
from which it originally sprung. 

There are a great many mental attitudes in exist- 
ence, almost as many as there are views of life, and 
they divide themselves into two distinct divisions, 
the first division being right and the second wrong. 



140 WHAT IS TRUTH 

The reason why the attitudes of the second division 
are wrong is because the acts that proceed from 
those attitudes retard advancement and growth, 
and interfere with the welfare of man. 

The first division of mental attitudes produces 
what may be called ascending tendencies, while the 
second division produces descending tendencies. 
Ascending tendencies culminate in acts that are 
constructive. Descending tendencies culminate in 
acts that scatter force, waste energies, pervert 
mental states, retard progress and produce discord, 
confusion and disorder in general. Ascending ten- 
dencies promote construction because they follow 
the laws of life. Descending tendencies interfere 
with construction because they resist the laws of 
life, and the reason why is simple. The first divi- 
sion of mental attitudes produce ascending ten- 
dencies because those attitudes mentally face the 
higher and the larger. In other words, the mind 
looks up at the greater possibilities that are before 
us while those attitudes are in formation. 

The second division of mental attitudes produces 
mental tendencies because those attitudes mentally 
face the lower and the smaller. In these attitudes 
the mind looks down and takes cognizance of the 
ordinary, the inferior and the mere surface of 
things. Growth is an upward process, a process of 
expansion and enlargement. Therefore no tendency 



WHAT IS TRUTH 141 

of mind can promote growth unless it is ascending, 
and moves upward into the larger and the greater. 

From this brief analysis we conclude that the 
secret of being right is to mentally face the higher, 
the larger, the superior, the limitless and the abso- 
lute at all times. When all the attitudes of the 
mind are attitudes of an upward look all the tenden- 
cies of the mind will be ascending tendencies ; thus 
the entire process of thinking will move constantly 
toward superiority, and every act will be in har- 
mony with absolute law. This is simply understood 
because growth, advancement and ascension are the 
inherent purposes of all law. Therefore every act 
that is an act of advancement, or the result of 
advancement, must be in harmony with all natural 
law. 

To violate law, to go against law, or to retard 
the purpose of law, is wrong ; but to work with law 
and to promote the purpose of law is right. And 
since all laws are constructive, that is, tending 
toward the larger and the superior, we must, in 
order to be in harmony with every law cause every 
thought, every word and every act to have a ten- 
dency to move toward the larger and the superior. 
Thoughts, words and acts are the results of ten- 
dencies and tendencies come from mental attitudes. 
Therefore our effort should not be to determine 
what thoughts, words and acts are constructive, 
but what mental attitudes produce such thoughts, 



I 



142 WHAT IS TRUTH 

words and acts that are constructive. But here a 
multitude have made mistakes. They have tried to 
think right thoughts, but they have not tried to 
create those mental attitudes which naturally pro- 
duce right thoughts. They have tried to express 
absolute truth in all their words and have expressed 
the letter of truth, so to speak, but the spirit of truth 
has not been expressed. The fact is we cannot 
express the spirit of truth unless the mind feels 
truth, and it is only the mind that is ever ascend- 
ing into more and more truth that actually feels the 
truth. This feeling of truth demands the ascending 
tendency, which in turn is the result of the upward 
look of mind. In consequence, the secret of giving 
expression to truth is to turn all the attitudes of 
mind toward the higher, the larger and the superior. 
When we judge conduct we should always ask 
what the intention was that promoted the act, 
because if the intention was good the tendency back 
of the intention must of necessity have been an 
ascending tendency. Therefore something good 
will come from that act even though on the surface 
it may appear to be a mistake. There are many 
intentions, however, that are thought to be good 
when they are not, and whether they are or not we 
can determine by looking for the object the inten- 
tion has in view. If the object is greater welfare, 
not only to self, but to everybody concerned, the 
intention must be good and good will come from it. 



WHAT IS TRUTH 143 

To formulate a system of conduct that will be 
right, the principle upon which to work is that of 
perpetual advancement along all lines. The central 
purpose should be to change the mind completely 
so that everything that pertains to the mind will 
face the greater possibilities of life. To this end 
all the eyes of the mind should be turned upon the 
most perfect mental image of complete character 
that we can possibly conceive of, and every act 
should be expressed with the positive intention of 
building toward that ideal image. 

When all the attitudes of the mind are facing the 
greater possibilities of life everything that we do 
will carry us forward toward those greater things 
that we have in view. In brief, all things will work 
together in promoting this purpose to reach the 
greater things, and we will reach some of them 
every day. When the attitudes of the mind are 
turned toward the ideal, the perfect and the larger 
life, all things in life will turn the same way, 
because the mental attitudes determine how all 
other things in life are to be. 

When everything in life is ascending toward the 
higher and the greater, everything will be right 
because to be right is to follow the laws of life, or 
to act as these laws act ; that is, to promote the pur- 
pose that is inherent in every law. And that pur- 
pose is growth, advancement and ascension. In 
this study the great principle to be born in mind 



144 WHAT IS TRUTH 

is, that so long as we are advancing along all lines 
we are obeying all the laws of life ; we are not violat- 
ing any of these laws and are therefore not doing 
anything wrong. 

Another principle equally important is, that so 
long as all the attitudes of the mind are facing the 
greater possibilities of life, advancement along all 
lines will be promoted. The mind moves toward 
that part upon which its attention is directed. 
Therefore when the attention of every part of the 
mind is directed toward the greater possibilities of 
life every part of the mind will move toward those 
greater possibilities, and that constitutes advance- 
ment along all lines. Here we have the great secret 
of all development, physical, mental, moral and spir- 
itual. When all the teachers of the world, whether 
they appear in the pulpit, the schoolroom or other 
halls of learning, will recognize these principles and 
apply them, we shall soon find a decided improve- 
ment in the human race. 

When we understand these principles we see the 
folly of halt splitting ar^ments about what is right 
and what is wrong, and also the uselessness of try- 
ing to compel people to conf o«n to artificial stand- 
ards. Experience proves conclusively that those 
who are trying to live up to artificial standards of 
right and wrong are violating just as many laws as 
those who have no standards, but who simply are 
doing the best they know how. The cause for this is 



WHAT IS TRUTH 145 

easily found. When a certain standard is fixed and 
you begin to pattern your life after such a standard 
your life will come to a standstill, and that in itself 
is a violation of all the laws of life. Even though 
the standard itself may be high, if your conception 
of that standard is fixed you will remain stationary 
by trying to live up to it. And the greatest wrong 
of all wrongs is to remain stationary; that is, to 
retard your own progress. We cannot obey the 
laws of life without moving forward, because as 
previously stated, the very principle of life itself is 
a perpetual forward movement; and so long as we 
move forward in all things and at all times we obey 
the laws of life without trying to do so. Therefore, 
instead of giving so much time trying to conform 
to all sorts of temporal laws we should give our 
time to the application of the principle of all law, 
which is growth, progress and ascension. 

To obey consciously every law in our own sphere 
of existence is impossible. To simply enumerate 
them one after another would require an age. We 
realize therefore that in order to obey all the laws 
of life it is necessary to conform to the principle 
of all laws, which is advancement along all lines. 
When we apply the principle of advancement to 
everything we do, we will be in harmony with all 
laws without ever thinking about them. And it is 
this state which has been described as being above 
the law, or a law unto one's self. 



146 WHAT IS TRUTH 

This fact gives us a new thought with respect to 
the problem of wrong in the world. Hitherto we 
have tried to prevent people from doing wrong by 
literally permeating society with rules and regula- 
tions. But experience proves that this method does 
not reach the ills we seek to cure, and a study of 
the principles under consideration explains why. 
There is only one way to eliminate wrong in the 
world and that is to make it natural or second 
nature for man to do right. For so long as the 
tendencies of the mind are descending tendencies, 
wrong will be the result, and no number of regula- 
tions can prevent it. But make these tendencies 
ascending, and regulations will not be needed, 
because the inclinations of all minds will be to do 
right. We do not mean that man-made rules or 
laws should be done away with. Let society pass as 
many rules as desired, but there are two facts here 
that must be considered. One is, that the righteous 
man does not need the rules of man ; and the other 
is, that the rules of man cannot reform the unright- 
eous. All that man-made laws can do is to protect 
society in a measure from the actions of the wrong- 
doer, but the wrongs themselves will continue as 
before. 

Our object, however, is not simply to protect 
society, but to remove the cause of wrong in the 
human race ; and to do this something else is needed 
besides the rules and regulations of society. The 



WHAT IS TRUTH 147 

fact is that as soon as any mind begins real growth 
and progress all tendencies and desires to do wrong 
will disappear. This is perfectly natural because 
since growth is the normal purpose of every law 
you will by promoting your own growth naturally 
enter into perfect harmony with every law; and 
since there is absolutely no desire to violate law 
while we are in perfect harmony with law, all desire 
to do wrong will thereby disappear. 

The man who advances along all lines naturally 
conforms with all laws, and he actually desires to 
conform with all laws because he has found that 
every law in life is a path to greater things. No 
man-made law therefore is necessary to prevent him 
from doing wrong. So long as he is advancing 
along all lines he cannot possibly have any desire 
to do wrong. Therefore if we would help mankind 
to do the right, and the right only, the secret is to 
teach every individual mind to promote the perpet- 
ual growth of his entire being, body, mind and- soul. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE TRUTH ABOUT FREEDOM. 

Freedom is largely a state of mind. It does not 
consist of the privilege to do as one pleases, nor 
does it mean deliverance from certain persons, 
environments or conditions. On the contrary, it is 
the consciousness of the fact that you have applied 
the truth as you imderstand it, and have lived 
according to your highest conception of eternal law. 
When you know that you have done right or have 
done your best you create a state of mind which to 
you, fulfills all the essentials of freedom, and in 
reality constitutes real freedom. 

You are free when you are able to do what your 
present circumstances may require, and when you 
are able at the same time to rejoice in the privilege 
of such doing. The free man feels equal to all 
occasions and never dislikes what he is called upon 
to do, the reason being that freedom means not only 
emancipation from limitations, but also emancipa- 
tion from any feeling of dislike toward anything 
whatever. 

That person who believes freedom to mean the 
liberty to do as he pleases is in almost complete 

148 



WHAT IS TRUTH 149 

bondage, because when he is called upon to do what 
does not please, he either rebels or proceeds unwil- 
lingly, and there is no freedom in such a state of 
existence. Nothing, however, displeases the free 
man. He feels able to do everything with joy, and 
that is one reason why he is free. 

The man who does what he pleases, or who tries 
to do what he pleases is on the down grade. He is 
following the desires of his physical nature, and 
those desires when left uncontrolled invariably lead 
to trouble and pain. But to be free we should follow 
the leadings of the soul and the desires of our 
higher and finer nature. The soul never asks to be 
pleased, but finds its greatest pleasure in constantly 
searching for opportunities to please others. The 
soul is constructed in this manner; therefore it is 
only by following the soul that we can find real 
freedom. The happiest and the freest man in the 
world is the one who never thinks of satisfying self, 
but who lives, thinks and acts according to the law 
of truth, and for the benefit of every living creature. 

When you live simply to please yourself your 
consciousness becomes absorbed in the personal ego, 
and is therefore separated more and more from 
everything and everybody. The result is that your 
life is not only isolated from its higher source, but 
also becomes smaller and smaller until finally it does 
not seem to be worth living. When you follow the 
laws of life regardless of present personal desires 



150 WHAT IS TRUTH 

you place yourself in harmony with the source of 
everything that is necessary to the welfare of the 
person. So that by a seeming personal sacrifice at 
first you enter into a larger life and come into pos- 
session of all that body, mind and soul may now 
require. 

The world believes that the greatest joy comes 
from satisfying the desires of the person, and that 
freedom means to be so situated that one can always 
fulfill the wants of the present without being inter- 
fered with. But on this subject the world is wholly 
wrong. To follow the desires of the person is to 
enter hopeless confusion and ceaseless trouble and 
pain, the reason being that the person was made to 
serve and not to lead or rule. When the mind 
follows the soul and does what the soul may desire 
to have done, then it is that the larger, fuller life 
begins, and this life continues to grow and develop 
until the limitless is attained. 

Here it must be remembered that whatever comes 
into one's life the person will receive, and also that 
the person has nothing to give, but is created to 
serve only as a receiving instrument. We realize 
therefore that if we continue to depend exclusively 
upon the person we finally come to a place where 
we depend upon nothing, and in consequence receive 
nothing. On the other hand, when the person is 
trained to give free and full expression to the life 
that is unfolded from within, and the mind is 



y 



WHAT IS TRUTH 151 

trained to enlarge its scope constantly so as to gain 
possession of a larger and a larger measure of life 
from within, the superior mind within is not only 
developed, but all the true desires of the person will 
be supplied. 

We all realize that real personal satisfaction must 
inevitably follow the continuous expression of 
higher and superior states of being. But such 
expressions cannot take place imtil we follow abso- 
lutely the desires of our higher and finer nature, 
that is, the soul. The soul is the master, being the 
real individual you. The mind is the creator of the 
soul's ideals; and the function of the person is to 
receive and express in practical life what the mind 
creates. This is the law of life, and to live in har- 
mony with this law is to attain perfect freedom. 

There are thousands in the world today who can 
say that they have enjoyed perfect personal satisfac- 
tion for months or even years by following constant- 
ly the leadings and desires of the soul. These people 
did not do what they pleased to do in a personal 
sense, they did rather what the finer life within them 
sought to have done. And they found that in this 
way the higher pleasures were given to the person, 
while to mind and soul came visions of the endless 
paths and realizations of the life that goes upward 
and onward forever. 

In our study of freedom it is highly important to 
understand that freedom never comes through a 



152 WHAT IS TRUTH 

forceful separation from what we may call undesir- 
able persons or environments. Freedom comes 
when we discover that these persons and things 
have a better side, and when we enter into conscious 
mental and spiritual unity with that better side. So 
long as you have the desire in your heart to separate 
yourself from anything, you are in bondage. The 
very fact that you desire separation from a person, 
an environment or a condition proves that you 
believe there is something evil in those things, and 
no one can be free so long as he recognizes evil or 
rebels against evil. Besides, the very fact you 
desire to separate yourself from anything that you 
consider tmdesirable proves that you are not above 
those things; and it is only the man who realizes 
he is above all conditions or things that is really 
free. 

When you seek to unite more closely with the 
better side of what you previously disliked, the 
desire for separation will disappear, and the feeling 
of bondage will vanish. What is more, when you 
feel absolutely free, it is then that you are naturally 
and orderly separated from that which does not 
belong to you, and are thus transferred into the 
company of what is truly your own. When we do 
what is right and best because we want to, then we 
are free; but when we do not want to, we are in 
bondage to our own feelings or inclinations ; that is, 
we are in bondage to ourselves. And he who is not 



r- 



WHAT IS TRUTH 153 

free from himself is not free from anything. Briefly 
stated we enter that state of mind that we call free- 
dom, when we can do properly and with pleasure 
what the present moment requires. 

Order is heaven's first law. There is a time and 
place for ever)rthing, and everything is good when 
in its time and place. What we call evil is after all 
simply a misplacing of things. We produce evil 
when we do now what should have been done at 
another time or place. To use what is not ripe for 
use, or to neglect to use things before they are too 
ripe is to act at the wrong time and place. And 
such actions will produce adverse conditions. 
Neither the green apple nor the decayed apple are 
intended for the human system, but we partake of 
Jboth when we try to live in the past or the future 
1 instead of exclusively in the present. In like man- 
ner, when we use certain faculties or expressions 
where the law of order never intended that those 
things should be used, we misplace things. The 
result is confusion, and confusion always leads to 
bondage. To be in bondage is to have something in 
your way and when things are confused there are 
always some things in the way. 

Freedom is a state wherein everything is in its 
true place and performing its true function ; that is, 
a state wherein absolute order and perfect harmony 
of action prevails. However, the only way to have 
order is to follow the absolute law of life which is 



154 WHAT IS TRUTH 

continuous advancement, or to live according to the 
truth and to do things as they ought to be done. 
But how are we to know these things ? The person 
does not and cannot know ; in fact, the average per- 
son is in a state of more or less confusion, and con- 
fusion is liable at any time to misdirect or misplace. 
Therefore it is not possible to learn to do these 
things properly by doing what the person pleases to 
have done. We all know too well that the guidance 
of mere personal desire leads to darkness, disorder 
and pain, the reason being that the person was not 
created to dictate to the mind. In consequence, 
whoever permits the person to rule or to lead, and 
who blindly follows the desires of the person, will 
invariably go wrong. 

We shall know how to establish order and how 
to do things as they ought to be done when we know 
the truth, understand the principles of life, and fol- 
low the light of the soul at all times — ^never asking 
what we would like to do, but what is the best thing 
to do, because what is best we shall like the best 
when we find what it really is. And most important 
of all we should do with joy whatever the present 
moment may require. When we begin to follow the 
soul and begin to work toward higher and greater 
things we shall find that ever3rthing coming into 
life comes for a purpose, and also that the superior 
state of existence always follows when such pur- 



r 



WHAT IS TRUTH 155 

poses are fulfilled. Knowing this, we shall count 
it a privilege to do whatever comes our way. 

We free ourselves from the disagreeable in life 
by placing ourselves in harmony with the better side 
of all things. And there is no better way to find 
the truer side of things than to meet all things in 
the spirit of a lofty rejoicing. To dislike anjrthing 
that comes to us to be done is one of the greatest 
obstacles to freedom, because what we dislike we 
resist, and what we resist we place in our own way. 
What comes to us to be done we should work out. 
We cannot afford to shirk anjrthing because what 
we neglect to do now we shall have to do later. In 
this connection we must realize that the only way 
to attain the higher is to work out of the lower ; and 
this is a pleasure when done in harmony with the 
eternal order of things. However, if we wish to 
work out of present limitations into superior states 
we must follow the soul; that is, seek higher and 
higher realizations of the truth as viewed from the 
superior viewpoints of the soul, and do what the 
soul desires to have done. 

To follow the person is to place ourselves in ( 
greater bondage to the limited than we ever were 
before because the person has nothing of its own. 
The person is only what we bring forth from within, 
and is large or small depending upon how much we 
express from our larger interior nature. But when 
we follow the soul and try to do what the soul may 



156 WHAT IS TRUTH 

desire, we shall never fail to ascend into superior 
states of life because the soul is already in touch 
with the superior and the limitless. In like manner, 
absolute freedom must positively come when we 
follow the soul, because the soul lives and moves 
and has its being in that higher state of conscious- 
ness where absolute freedom is continuous, being 
the normal condition of that higher consciousness. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE ROYAL PATH TO FREEDOM. 

There are many when taken to task for not doing 
what propriety dclares ought to be done, usually 
reply that they may do as they please with their 
own. They emphasize the statement, "What is ours, 
is ours," and we believe no one has the right to tell 
us what we should or should not do with our own. 
This form of logic may appear sound on the sur- 
face, or rather it may look good at a distance, but 
it changes completely upon closer acquaintance. 
The fact is that the idea, "We may do as we please 
with our own," is contrary to all trt ie propr iety, jJl 
p rinciple ^ all^scieflce and_all.law. And whoever 
lives in the belief that he may do as he pleases will 
finally come to a place where he will not have the 
privilege to please to do anything. He will be in 
complete bondage to adverse circumstances which 
he himself has created, and absolutely at the mercy 
of a fate for which he alone is responsible. 

When a person does as he pleases he usually fol- 
lows the whims of fancy or obeys the commands of 
a per verse nature. He therefore disregards the 
real law of his being, and to disregard this law js to 

157 



158 WHAT IS TRUTH 

produce those very conditions that we do not want, 
and which do not please under any circumstance. 

To do as you please in the general sense of that 
term is to produce that which does not please, while 
to act in accordance with natural law is to produce 
a perpetual increase of everything that is good and 
desirable, j To do as you please with physical func- 
tions is to produce disease, because such actions will 
follow abnormal desire instead of natural law.f To 
follow natural law, however, is not to go contrary 
to desire because normal desire and natural law 
are always in harmony. When the person is normal 
in all his tastes, appetites and tendencies every desire 
will desire to act according to natural law, and such 
desires when in action will not only promote con- 
struction and advancement, but will give the person 
far greater pleasure than the average person has 
ever known. 

To do as you please with your mental powers is 
to weaken those powers, and to do as you please 
with your external possessions is to begin the down- 
grade to failure ; because you will, when you do as 
you please, act contrary to the laws of accumulation 
and gain. In fact, no person can ever gain anything 
from any source so long as he uses things as he 
may please to use them. There is only one way to 
use an)rthing, and that is according to law, because 
everything is subject to law ; that is, natural law. 






■¥ 



* 



I 



WHAT IS TRUTH 159 

To disregard law in the use of anything is to step 
out of the world of law. And there is only one 
world that exists outside of the world of law, and 
that is the world of chaos. But to act in the world 
of chaos is to misdirect everything. In consequence 
we get only that which we do not desire or that 
which cannot possibly please in any sense of the 
term. When we act as we please we invariably 
follow the inclinations of the external person. But 
it is not the function of the external person to gov- 
errij/ The personality is but an instrument and was 
dreated to serve, j It is the individuality that consti- 
tutes the real man; therefore it is the individuality 
that alone has the right to govern. 

The normal attitude of the individuality, how- 
ever, is not to do at any time what may seem to 
please the person at that particular time, but to act 
always in harmony with natural law, because it is 
such action that will in the long run please every- 
thing in the being of man. When the mind begins 
to do as it pleases it begins to drift, but so long as 
it follows natural law absolutely, it will advance 
toward greater power, greater wisdom and greater 
joy. It will gain ground constantly, and it will 
invariably reach the greater goal in view. 

A fact of extreme importance in this connection 
is that the person who does as he pleases usually 
ignores the welfare of others and therefore tries 
consciously or unconsciously to live to himself, or 



160 WHAT IS TRUTH 

to act to himself, which is not possible. To ignore 
the welfare of others is to place ourselves out of 
harmony with human life. And we can gain noth- 
ing of value from life when we are at variance with 
human life, because we are all dependent upon each 
other for what we receive in this world. 

The man who ignores the welfare of the world 
will be ignored by the world because every action 
produces a reaction and the "select positions'' he 
sought and gained will finally become a prison. To 
cut loose from the world in any manner or form is 
to create for ourselves a state of existence that can 
receive nothing of worth from the world. We will 
then not only be in a prison, so to speak, but that 
prison will be empty. 

What man does to himself he does to the race. 
And what he fails to do to the race, the race will 
fail to do to him. Therefore no person can live to 
himself or act to himself. The part is invariably 
sustained by the whole, and is in consequence 
responsible to the whole. This is the law, but it is 
not a hard law. It is a law that governs every 
channel of supply or increase ; therefore every indi- 
vidual who complies with this law will be supplied 
with ever3rthing that his life may require or need. 

To violate this law constantly is to receive less 
and less until one receives practically nothing; and 
every person who does as he pleases invariably does 
violate this law. To live in harmony with this law 



N 



WHAT IS TRUTH 161 

is to receive more and more until one receives 
everything, and this is the destiny of him who does 
not do as he pleases, but rather pleases to do what 
his larger and finer nature has the power to do. 

This conception of life does not in any way 
antagonize the principle of freedom because free- 
dom is also based upon the same law. And it is 
a fact that there is no similarity whatever between 
the life of real freedom and the doing as one pleases. 
The man who does as he pleases is in bondage to 
his own misdirected nature, while that man alone 
is free who wants to do what his true nature 
declares he was created to do. 

The purpose of life is to advance perpetually into 
the larger life, the greater life, the more beautiful 
/ life. And he alone is absolutely free whose whole 
? life is devoted to the fullest possible promotion of 
that purpose. You are not free to do as you please, 
but you are free to become more and more and 
achieve more and more. And when you have 
learned to become and achieve more and more you 
shall find that it is such a mode of living alone that 
really does please. 

To be free is not to have the privilege to follow 
any inclination that may happen along, because such 
actions lead to bondage, and we are not free to 
place ourselves in prison. For when the eflFect is 
bondage, the cause cannot be freedom. To be free 
is to have the power and the desire to follow the 






I 



162 WHAT IS TRUTH 

ascending, expanding, growing, developing, tran- 
scending tendency; that is, to break bounds con- 
tinually and to rise perpetually in the scale of being, 
power and life. In brief, the free mind turns 
neither to the left nor to the right, but moves 
upward and onward eternally. The one purpose of 
such a mind is progress, and its ruling desire is to 
be all that is possible for a limitless mind to be. 

To be free is not to have the privilege to anything 
you like regardless of whether those likes be normal 
or abnormal. To be free is to have the privilege to 
do that which leads to greater things ; and than this 
there is nothing that could please us more. The 
man who does what he pleases will never be pleased 
with anything he has done, while the man who 
never pleases his personal self, but who gives his 
entire attention to his superior self, will be pleased 
with everything he has done. He will give a magic 
touch of high worth to every thought and to every 
act because he is living in the mental world of high 
worth. Besides, he is daily rising in the scale and 
will in consequence be more and more pleased with 
everything he may do or undertake. 

There is no pleasure that is greater, no satisfac- 
tion that is more thorough, and no attainment that 
penetrates the soul more deeply than that which 
comes when we realize that we are steadily gaining 
ground. But to gain ground steadily we must tran- 
scend the present. We must grow out of the lim- 



I 



WHAT IS TRUTH 163 

ited, we must live to be all that we can be. And it 
is such living that constitutes freedom. To gain 
freedom is to outgrow the present. To gain more 
freedom is to enter larger and larger mental 
domains, for the attitude of freedom is always a 
rising attitude. And when we learn this great fact 
we shall have found the royal path to freedom. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE TRUTH BEYOND TRUTH. 

There is something more in life besides that 
which appeals to the physical senses; there are 
other forces in the human personality besides those 
that are employed in muscular or chemical action; 
and there are faculties in the mind that far tran- 
scend the ones we usually employ in objective 
thought and reason. And since our purpose is to 
make the fullest and best use of everjrthing that 
we may now possess, or later develop, nothing can 
be more important than to know what to do with 
those things that lie just beyond the limitations of 
the present, or to understand such truths as may 
be found beyond the truth we now understand. , 

The many are in the habit of declaring "one world 
at a time," meaning that they purpose to consider 
only what they are normally conscious of in the 
present. They refuse therefore to recognize what 
the senses do not seem to fully comprehend now. 
But in this connection we must remember that no 
step forward was ever taken without trying to tran- 
scend the ordinary and to picture the unknown. 
The very moment we resolve to consider only one 

164 



<■ WHAT IS TRUTH 165 

J 

world at a time, that is, only as much as present 
limitations can appreciate, we settle down in those 
limitations, and all advancement is brought to a 
\ standstill. Even in practical every-day life no prog- 

) ress is possible unless we try to go beyond the 

ordinary of the present; because in all things the 
greater lies before us and above us. 

I 

The truth we are now conscious of is only a small 
I fraction of the whole truth. An infinite sea of truth 

lies beyond our present consciousness, and it is our 
privilege to become conscious of more and more of 
this immensity as we advance in life. Therefore 
our purpose must be to try again and again to go 
beyond what we are conscious of now. All will 
\ admit that it is necessary in a certain sense to go 

^ out upon the seeming void in order to find the 

greater and the superior in reality. But the major- 
ity have placed an obstacle in their way as far as 
such an effort is concerned, though this obstacle 
exists wholly in their own minds. 

That which lies beyond present ordinary mental 
action is frequently looked upon as supernatural 
or even abnormal. And it is simple to understand 
that no mind can gain control or possession of that 
which he looks upon as supernatural. And herein 
we find the obstacle to which we refer. To think 
of an3rthing as supernatural is to place that particu- 
lar thing so far beyond normal action that it cannot 
be attained through normal action. In other words 



166 WHAT IS TRUTH 

we always place our own normal actions so far 
below those things that we think of as supernatural 
that an immense mental gulf is placed between the 
two. True, this gulf exists wholly in our own 
minds and is purely artificial, nevertheless, it tends 
to separate the normal actions of our minds from 
those higher things that we must of necessity realize 
and understand if we are to gain possession of a 
greater measure of truth than we now possess. 

The fact is that when we think of anything as 
supernatural we tend to so belittle our present nor- 
mal actions that the greater cannot be reached nor 
comprehended by the normal actions of the mind. 
Frequently the greater cannot even be discerned 
since we have pushed it so far off, so to speak, into 
the supernormal. 

To state that the known is normal and the un- 
known supernormal or supernatural is to produce 
the same artificial gulf between the known and the 
unknown. And frequently this gulf is so wide that 
the unknown on the other side of consciousness 
continues to remain but a cloudy mist. In the 
meantime the normal mind continues to remain in 
the limitations of present ordinary knowledge. 
Consciousness does not expand, the mental faculties 
do not develop and the mentality itself does not 
transcend that sphere of consciousness in which we 
function at the present time. 



9^ 

I 



WHAT IS TRUTH 167 

Those who think of the unknown as supernatural 
must remember that all things have in their day 
been unknown, and even the most usual of all 
things in our environments are still unknown to 
millions. But nothing can be normal or natural and 
supernatural at the same time; and what is more, 
that which can be comprehended by the natural 
cannot be supernatural; in fact, it must have been 
natural all the time. 

There was a time when classical music was un- 
known, but that does not prove that the classical is 
supernatural. There are thousands today who can- 
not appreciate classical music. It is beyond their 
reach. And though it is beyond the normal func- 
tionings of their minds, this fact does not prove that 
the music itself is supernormal or supernatural. 
Many have found classical music to be perfectly 
natural so that the power to appreciate such music 
is inherent in all minds; and therefore what some 
can appreciate in this connection all would appre- 
ciate sooner or later. 

Nearly everything that is known today was at 
one time unknown and was looked upon by many 
as supernatural. But we have found all of these 
things to be perfectly natural, and we are fully 
justified in thinking that all things are normal and 
natural. To think of certain parts of life as super- 
natural is to form a wrong mental conception of 
those things, which will interfere with our better 



168 WHAT IS TRUTH 

understanding of them, because men cannot gain a 
normal understanding of that which he thinks of as 
supernormal. 

To state that all things are normal is simply to 
reaffirm the great statement that all things come 
from the same source, or that all parts are of one 
stupendous whole., And this is something we all 
believe now. There is not a person living that has 
not had, and that does not have experiences that 
are more or less beyond the ordinary. And a great 
deal of practical good might be obtained from such 
experiences if the qualities through which they are 
produced were more fully developed. But those 
faculties cannot be developed so long as they think 
of them as being out of the ordinary, as being spe- 
cial faculties, or as being supernatural functions of 
the mind. 

To the average mind the supernatural means 
something that is beyond the present, something 
that the present cannot control, or something that 
is caused to transpire in the life of the person by 
some outside power or agency acting upon the per- 
son. But we cannot develop in ourselves that which 
we believe to exist outside or separate from our- 
selves. Nor can we learn to exercise a power which 
we think we do not possess. In the development of 
any faculty the fir^t essential is to realize that that 
faculty is our own. And before any power can be 
mastered we must realize that that power exists in 



WHAT IS TRUTH 169 

us and not apart from us. True, there are many 
minds who have extraordinary experiences even 
though they believe that those experiences come 
from supernatural sources, but it can easily be 
demonstrated that those very persons are highly 
developed along certain lines, and that they receive 
what they do because that development has taken 
place. 

Those people, however, have no control over the 
faculties through which those experiences come. 
They cannot get what they want when it is wanted 
in this way, and they are more frequently misled 
than wisely guided by those things that are sup- 
posed to come in this helter-skelter fashion from 
higher sources. The reason for this is that no 
faculty, no matter how active it may be or how well 
developed it may seem to be, can serve us properly 
unless it is placed under our control. But to control 
a faculty we must know that it is our own. 

When an impression comes to your mind that you 
ought to act thus or so and you obey that impres- 
sion with profit, it is probable that you are informed 
by some outside agency since you were not con- 
scious of exercising any special faculty yourself. 
Though it is also likely that that information came 
to you from your own subconscious mind. But if 
that information had been g^ven to you by an out- 
side agency you could not have received it if you 



170 WHAT IS TRUTH 

had not developed that faculty through which it 
was received. 

The gaining of that information therefore was 
wholly dependent upon your own mental develop- 
ment. We shall find that everything we gain, be it 
ordinary or extraordinary, comes through faculties 
of our own, no matter what the original source may 
be. And we must admit that we could receive a 
great deal more if those same faculties were highly 
developed. But we cannot develop those things that 
we look upon as supernatural, as being beyond us, or 
as being separated from us. Therefore to promote 
growth, development or attainment in any direction 
we must think of all things as natural and normal 
and as having the one Supreme Source. In like 
manner we must think of all truth as being expres- 
sions of the whole truth, and that higher truth is 
just as natural and intelligible as the truth we now 
understand. In brief, we must realize that that 
truth which may be beyond what we now know to be 
truth, is just as natural as the truth we now possess, 
and may be gained in the same way as we have 
gained such truth as we realize in the present. 

There is a certain faculty usually termed interior 
insight that has become highly active in thousands 
of minds at the present time, and many of those 
who have it think that they are especially favored. 
They are sometimes warned from danger through 
mysterious premonitions and are frequently led into 



k 



WHAT IS TRUTH 171 

circumstances through which much good is gained. 
But in the last analysis can we say that a person 
who has a very active interior insight is favored to 
a greater degree than a person who has a good nor- 
mal eyesight? Is not the one as wonderful as the 
other ? Is not the one as natural as the other ; and 
if it is true that mysterious warnings in the time of 
danger are supernatural, the ability to see the deli- 
cate colorings of the rainbow must also be super- 
natural. Though on the other hand if the latter is 
natural, as we know it to be, the former must also 
be natural, which fact proves that the sphere of the 
natural is infinitely more immense than we ever 
believed before. 

To have a premonition of coming danger is won- 
derful, but to be able to see a broken plank in the 
sidewalk at a distance of one hundred feet is just 
as wonderful. Nevertheless, we have been in the 
habit of calling the one natural and the other super- 
natural. And for this reason we have pushed the 
former so far beyond us that we are hardly ever 
able to develop it further. 

In this connection it is well to emphasize the fact 
that if we make it a practice to think of all extra- 
ordinary experiences as perfectly natural, we shall 
find it an easy matter to develop to a greater degree 
those faculties through which such experiences 
come. In consequence our minds would be enlarg-ed 
along many new and interesting lines. Seeing and 



/ 



172 WHAT IS TRUTH 

hearing and feeling have become so commonplace 
that we do not think of them as wonderful any 
more, and yet to be able to see or hear or feel is 
just as marvelous as the most astonishing miracle 
that we ever heard of. In fact, to be able to predict 
events for a thousand years to come is no more 
wonderful than to be able to see physical objects a 
thousand feet in the distance. 

This is something that we must realize if we wish 
to develop the mind along those higher lines 
through which greater truth may be discerned; 
because so long as we look upon certain things as 
extraordinary or supernatural we shall not be able 
to widen the mind into that consciousness through 
which such things may be realized or gained at will. 

All things that are possible are wonderful— even 
extraordinary. Therefore if we should say that 
any one of them is caused by outside powers or 
agencies, or powers that are beyond us, we would 
have to say that they are all produced by such supe- 
rior powers. Though if this were true man would 
be a mere automaton. To realize, however, on the 
contrary, that all these things, no matter how won- 
derful they may be, are being produced through 
faculties that belong to man, and that still more 
wonderful things can be produced through higher 
faculties already latent in man — ^this is to make man 
what he really is — a marvel of creative power. 



I 



WHAT IS TRUTH 173 

To admit that some of these remarkable things 
take place through the actions of human faculties 
is to admit that more and greater things can take 
place through the further development of those 
! same faculties and we know that this is true. 
Therefore we must conclude that every faculty is a 
marvelous faculty. For the same reason we must 
' conclude that physical sight is just as wonderful 
! and just as sacred as spiritual discernment; and 
' also that the latter is just as natural and just as 
I normal as the former. 

i If some things were sacred and some were not 

there would be two antagonistic causes in the uni- 
verse, which is impossible, because a mind divided 
against itself cannot stand. The universe, how- 
ever, has continued for ages and its laws and forces 
are still working together in harmony, invariably 
producing the same effects from the same causes, 
proving thereby that all things come from the one 
supreme source, and are governed by the one 
fundamental law. 

Therefore if anything is natural, all things are 
natural since all things are produced by the one 
power. Also for the same reason all things must 
be sacred and good in their own place of action. 
And if one faculty in man belongs to man himself 
all faculties or powers that act in man must belong 
to man himself. The so-called higher faculties are 
parts of the human mind. They are not produced 



174 WHAT IS TRUTH 

by special actions or by special powers outside of 
ourselves, but are caused to act by the same law that 
operates through all our faculties. 

These faculties can be developed to higher and 
higher degrees just as every faculty in mind can 
be developed. However, to develop any faculty we 
must become conscious of the greater life and the 
greater possibilities that lie back of and above that 
faculty. But if we think of the greater life as being 
supernatural we at once imagine that it is beyond 
us. In consequence, the normal mind being low- 
ered, cannot go up within reach of this greater life, 
but will hold itself back, so to speak, and thus be 
unable to promote the development desired along 
those lines. 

But when we think of the greater life as being 
united with the lesser life, just as the inlet is united 
with the sea, we place the mind in that position 
where it can draw upon the greater life and thus 
increase constantly the power of every faculty. In 
like manner when we think of the limitless sea of 
infinite truth as being united with what truth we 
possess now, we place the mind in that position 
where it can gradually and steadily enter into the 
understanding of truth that is beyond what is 
understood now. And it is in this way that the 
mind goes into the realization of higher and greater 
truth along all lines, thereby fulfilling the one pur- 
pose of every mind in search of truth; that is, to 



WHAT IS TRUTH 175 

become conscious of a wider and a higher world of 
truth every day. When we know that the higher 
faculties may be developed by the same power 
through which any development is promoted, that 
power will enter such higher faculties as we may 
wish to develop. The result will be that everything 
that now seems supernatural will be placed under 
the full normal control of the mind. And the dawn 
of the limitless life, as well as the understanding of 
infinite truth, will be at hand. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

DISCERNMENT OF ABSOLUTE TRUTH. 

It is impossible to define absolute truth, as that 
which is absolute is beyond definition, containing* 
within itself the elements of all definitions that 
might be formulated with regard to the truth. But 
for practical purposes we can say that absolute 
truth is the real or the whole truth in its change- 
less condition without any colorings or modifica- 
tions whatever from the mind of man. Therefore 
to discern absolute truth the human mind must 
transcend all relative and isolated viewpoints of 
truth, and look upon the whole truth as it is in its 
fundamental and unmodified state. 

This, however, is not possible so long as the 
ordinary senses are depended upon exclusively, 
because the senses invariably take special or iso- 
lated viewpoints, not being able to see anything 
from all points of view. For this reason the senses 
do not see things as they are in themselves all 
around, so to speak, but see things only as they 
appear from certain viewpoints. What is discerned 
from these viewpoints, however, is true as far as it 
goes, but it is not the whole truth. It is not the pure 
light, but simply a certain shade or color of the light. 

176 



WHAT IS TRUTH 177 

But the absolute truth is the pure light — all the 
rays of light and all the colors of those rays blended 
in the one complete light. And it is such light that 
we must search for when trying to discern absolute 
truth. For the term "absolute truth" means prac- 
tically the same as the pure white light of the whole 
truth. However, as the external senses and the 
usual actions of the mind approach the truth from 
certain viewpoints only we shall not be able to dis- 
cern absolute truth, the pure white light of truth, 
imless there is some faculty or sense in the human 
mind that is in possession of this particular power. 
But there is such a sense — well termed the meta- 
physical sense — a finer sense in the human mind 
through which the absolute truth may be discerned. 

It is the advent of modern metaphysics that has 
demonstrated the existence of a metaphysical sense, 
or rather a special mental faculty through which the 
whole truth about things, and the perfect soul of 
things, may be discerned. And it is through this 
discovery of the metaphysical sense that practically 
all misunderstandings concerning the study of 
metaphysics may be thoroughly cleared up. 

An instance of such misunderstanding is found 
in the fact that a number of minds find the principle 
of metaphysics very simple ; in brief, so simple that 
no mental effort whatever is required to understand 
them. While on the other hand a large number are 
unable to see anything of worth in those principles. 



178 WHAT IS TRUTH 

When we compare the intelligence of those who 
appreciate metaphysics and those who do not we 
usually find very little difference. There are many 
brilliant minds in both classes, and any number of 
lesser minds in both classes. 

It is very evident that the principles of meta- 
physics are not discerned through the channels of 
ordinary objective intelligence. Neither does the 
understanding of metaphysics necessarily follow 
the higher development of character, because some 
of the best characters in the world are wholly una- 
ble to appreciate metaphysics, while there are a 
number who do appreciate such thought whose 
characters are by no means strong. And so marked 
is this difference between the two classes in this 
regard, that those who understand metaphysics are 
extremely surprised to find so many intelligent peo- 
ple seemingly unable to understand it. On the 
other hand, those who do not appreciate metaphys- 
ics are surprised to find so many believing in what 
to them appears to be nothing but illusions. Thus 
each party feels sorry for the lack of intelligence 
in the other, neither party knowing the cause of 
this particular difference. 

The fact is, that those who appreciate metaphysics 
do so not on account of any superiority in character 
or intelligence, but because they have the metaphys- 
ical sense developed to a considerable degree. On 
the other hand, those who do not fully appreciate 



WHAT IS TRUTH 179 

metaphysics fail, not on account of any inferiority 
in character or intelligence, but because the meta- 
physical sense in them has not been developed. 
They may be very superior both in character and 
intellect, but if they have no development of the 
metaphysical sense, metaphysical principles will not 
be clear to them. 

And here let us remember that metaphysics, 
properly defined, means the interior understanding 
of absolute truth. In brief, if you can discern what 
is usually spoken of as pure metaphysics you have 
the metaphysical sense, and have the power to dis- 
cern, at least to some extent, the pure white light 
of absolute truth. 

To criticise those who do not understand meta- 
physics, therefore, is not wisdom, for it is not their 
fault. Neither do we necessarily deserve any spe- 
cial credit for being able to understand metaphysical 
principles. Usually we are born with the meta- 
physical sense, and that is why metaphysical ideas 
are so simple to us. Why some are born with that 
sense and others not is a different question, how- 
ever — a question that can readily be answered ; but 
the answer has no direct bearing upon the subject 
under consideration. 

The fact that the metaphysical sense is developed 
in some and not in others explains why some can 
appreciate metaphysics while others cannot. And 
the fact that the understanding of metaphysical 



180 WHAT IS TRUTH 

principles is of extraordinary value leads us to 
enquire if the metaphysical sense can be developed 
in anybody here and now. The result of such 
inquiry and investigation proves that this sense can 
be developed. For the fact is that anything in the 
being of man can be developed. We all have the 
same powers and faculties latent within us, and the 
elements of growth are present in every faculty and 
power, so that it is only necessary to apply the law 
of development to that which we wish to develop 
and such development will invariably be secured. 

The development of the metaphysical sense is 
important for many reasons, though there are two 
reasons that occupy the first place. The first reason 
is, that it is only through this sense that we can 
discern absolute truth, or gure truth, or the whole 
truth, in connection with anything in existence. 
And second, it is only through this sense that the 
mind can discern the causes of things. And here 
it is well to emphasize the fact that the world of 
cause exists entirely within the world of absolute 
truth. If man desires to master himself, take his 
life into his own hands and create his own destiny, 
he must understand the causes of the many effects 
in his life. And as causes can be discerned only 
through the metaphysical sense we realize its excep- 
tional importance in this connection. 

When man knows the cause of everything that 
takes place in his body, mind or character, and 



WHAT IS TRUTH 181 

learns how to produce that cause he can produce 
practically any effect in his system that he may 
desire. If man knew the cause of health and knew 
how to produce that cause he could banish sickness 
from his life for all time. If he knew the cause of 
peace, harmony, wisdom and power he could in the 
same way produce those faculties or conditions in 
his life to any measure desired. The same would 
be true with regard to any other faculty or power 
that may exist in the being of man. 

It is evident that when the metaphysical sense is 
highly developed we shall be able to know instan- 
taneously the exact cause of everything that tran- 
spires in the human system. And this is perfectly 
natural, because if the physical sense can discern 
effects it is evident that the metaphysical sense can 
discern causes, functioning as it does in the world 
of cause. There are already thousands of people 
in the world who know that the causes of things 
can be discerned through the metaphysical sense, 
and who have had remarkable experiences in this 
connection, even though the development of this 
sense is as yet in its infancy. 

We ourselves produce the causes of everything 
that happens in our own personalities or in our own 
world, though all such causes are as a rule produced 
ignorantly. The way we think and live will deter- 
mine what is to happen to us. But the average 
person does not know what kind of thinking and 



182 WHAT IS TRUTH 

living is necessary to produce the things desired. 
He knows desirable effects when he sees them, but 
he does not know what causes will produce those 
effects. And his ignorance in this regard is due 
to the fact that his metaphysical sense is not devel- 
oped. 

When the metaphysical sense is developed we 
shall be able to know the exact cause of every effect, 
and will therefore know what to do and what not 
to do in order to secure the results desired. The 
advantage of having a highly developed metaphys- 
ical sense therefore is extraordinary, to say the 
least, though its most important function will be 
found in connection with the discernment of abso- 
lute truth. 

To develop this sense the principal essential is to 
train consciousness to go back of things, back of 
effects and into the world of underlying principles ; 
that is, every mental effort should have cause in 
view, and every mental action should be animated 
with the realization that the principle that underlies 
every cause is not only ideal, but real ; and that the 
real is perfect and complete, existing fundamentally 
in absolute truth. 

To realize the completeness, the perfection and 
the wholeness of life, and the power that is back 
of things and within things, is also extremely im- 
portant, because what we become conscious of in 
the interior life, that we shall invariably express in 



WHAT IS TRUTH 183 

the exterior life. Through the metaphysical sense 
we discern the ideal, we realize the perfect, the 
greater and the complete. We become conscious of 
those elements in life that have superior quality and 
worth ; and according to the law just stated we will 
thereby bring forth into tangible life the greater, 
the superior, the perfect and the ideal. Our ideals 
will thus be realized, and the remarkable possibili- 
ties that are latent within us will steadily unfold 
themselves into practical life. 

To dwell mentally in the consciousness of the 
ideal, as far as that consciousness has been awak- 
ened, and to give constant attention to the discern- 
ment of the pure white light of absolute truth, is to 
aid remarkably in the development of the meta- 
physical sense. Here we must remember an impor- 
tant law ; that is, that we tend to develop the power 
to discern and understand those things that we 
think of the most. Therefore, if we think a great 
deal of the pure white light of absolute truth, and 
try to enter into that light as far as possible, and 
as frequently as possible, the metaphysical sense 
will steadily develop. 

Every action of consciousness that tries to feel 
the soul of things will produce the same effect; 
that is, tend to develop the mind toward the realiza- 
tion of the soul of reality, or absolute truth, and 
especially so if we think of the soul of things as 
being perfect and complete in every sense of the 



184 WHAT IS TRUTH 

term; for the soul of things contains the whole 
truth that is in things and upon which the true 
existence of things is based. The workings of this 
law of consciousness, and the expression of what 
we become conscious of, is well illustrated in the 
fact that when the metaphysical sense discerns that 
the soul of things has perfect health, we thereby 
cause the mind to become conscious of perfect 
health. Perfect health, therefore, according to the 
law will become an active power in mind, which 
means that the power of health will fill the entire 
body. And this is true because the ruling power of 
the mind always becomes the ruling power of the 
body. 

The metaphysical sense can also discern all other 
desirable qualities in the being of man. And since 
we always bring forth into expression whatever we 
become conscious of, a high development of the 
metaphysical sense will enable us to imfold and 
develop almost anything that we may desire, espe- 
cially the full understanding of absolute truth. In 
addition, we shall know the cause of things, which 
means that we can determine the effect of all things 
in our world, thereby placing conditions, circum- 
stances and destiny in our own hands. And this 
must be the inevitable result where the understand- 
ing of absolute truth is attained. For to know the 
truth is to be free, and to be free is to be able to 
make our own life and our own nature what we 



WHAT IS TRUTH 185 

wish it to be. In brief, we are absolutely free when 
we have gained power to become and attain accord- 
ing to our deepest desires and highest ideals. And 
we approach absolute freedom as we grow in that 
power. The path of freedom is the path that leads 
upward and onward. And the further we advance 
in this path the more we discern and understand 
of the pure white light of absolute truth. 



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